The Church of All Ages

“Worship is the most central and public activity engaged in by American religious congregations”

Gil Rendle, a former senior consultant with the Alban Institute, has provided another helpful way for us to view our congregations. He looks at tenure of membership in the congregation and notes that some are long-tenured members (more than 20 years), some are mid-tenured (between 10 and 20 years), and others are short-tenured (less than 10 years).

The “blended congregation” is one where a conscious effort is made to appeal to all the generations it encompasses.

Avoid stereotypes. Surely you’ve heard the stereotypes about generational differences, and we all have a number of them floating around in our heads. “The children all prefer . . . “ “Twos are terrible.” “Youth all really like this better . . .” “Seniors always . . .”

We do, however, believe that each congregation should be discussing, among both clergy and laity, the specific approach it will take in such matters.

For all kinds of reasons, many congregations have practiced a kind of generational segregation on Sunday morning. Some churches schedule Christian education sessions during worship so that families are split up during their hour at church. Some churches schedule different worship services for Boomers, Busters, and Gen X “audiences,” tailoring each

Encourage activities that prepare worshipers to be age-inclusive.

Simply put, people are living longer today, and so the worshiping congregation includes more seniors than it did a generation ago. Since it includes more seniors, the age difference between people in the same pew is greater than it might have been in earlier years.

“inherited-tradition congregation”