Cross-Generational Ministry

“A faith-formation paradigm limited to religious instruction for children and a youth group for high school students no longer equips one generation to effectively pass on the faith to the next generation. A paradigm shift is needed - one that results in a more comprehensive approach and fosters faith through experiences in the family, the congregation, the community, and the culture.”  - Merton P. Strommen PhD & Richard A. Hardel, DMin
Lord of Life Lutheran Church stands on the threshold of an excellent opportunity. Our congregation is planted in just the right place, at just the right time and we are blessed with children, youth, and families of all ages. The Christian faith has been fading from presence in our culture for several years, yet we remain as a glimmer of hope for the passing on of faith.  
We find that the people of Lord of Life Lutheran Church desire a church that ministers to all ages, that identifies the gifts of each member, and seeks to pass on the traditions of our faith to children,  youth, and families. It is our sincere hope to meet these desires through a comprehensive ministry approach that honors the important definitions of youth and family ministry included in this document and through an exploration of the possibilities for ministry across the generations which teaches and empowers families to pass on the faith to their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and all of those who watch and learn the faith evidenced in how we all live our lives.  
We invite you to read this document and engage the leadership of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in meaningful dialog around this material as we seek to be faithful to God’s mission in this place.

• An Understanding of Youth & Family MinistryYouth and family ministry is a holistic and intergenerational approach to ministry.  It is primarily not about children, youth, or families.  It is primarily about Jesus.  It is about discipleship and passing on the faith.  It is not just children’s ministry or youth ministry.  It everything that God is doing in the community through the congregation.  Thus a director of youth and family ministry must work with the whole ministry team of the congregation, have a clear understanding of the vision and mission of the congregation, and understand faith formation.
  - Dr. Richard A. Hardel
  
• Effective Youth and Family Ministry is: DiscipleshipStatement: Effective Youth and Family Ministry is adults and young people walking alongside each other in relationship as both grow and mature in faith in Christ.
  
  Biblical Basis: “Therefore, let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity”   - Hebrews 6:1
  
  Rationale: Maturity in Christ is a journey, not a destination. The real- ity is, the entire life process from birth to death is a process of matura- tion. There is never a point when we suddenly are "complete." There is never a point when our relationship with Jesus Christ has become one of full maturity. We only achieve this point when through death in this life, by the grace of God, we are reunited with God in a new life. There, we experience this maturity.
  
  So what happens in the space between? How do God's people grow towards maturity in Christ as they live their life journey?
  
  This is a faith experience we call discipleship.
  
  As Lutherans, we tend to shy away from this word. It has echoes of "works righteousness" that scare us away. To be a disciple is to take action within our faith, and anything that causes us to take action might be confused by some as action required for the grace of God. We know, however, that discipleship is not so much about what we "do" as Christians, but who we "are" as Christians. Living out our baptismal promises, we become followers of the living God and at the same time, leaders in the world around us. We receive God's grace and share God's love.
  
  In Jewish tradition, rabbis took disciples who followed the rabbi, learned from the rabbi, and modeled their lives and ministry after the rabbi. In Christian practice, Jesus Christ is our rabbi, and as Christians, we try to follow, learn from, and model ourselves after Him.
  
  Effective youth and family ministry then, is the tending of these faith journeys, on behalf of and alongside the lives and faith of young people and their families. We do not take disciples, nor do we create them. We walk alongside the called, and build relationships with, teach, and tend those who are on the discipleship journey. We do this by encouraging and teaching the disciplines of prayer, service, worship, scripture, and faith talk and traditions.
  Effective youth and family ministry addresses both the young person as an individual and the young per- son in the context of their family. It recognizes that their family, whatever that looks like, is the primary incubator for faith. It works to equip parents be the primary faith role models, and provides opportunities for families to “practice faith” together.
  Discipleship is less though about what we do and more about what God is doing in the lives of people. It is about naming God's grace and work in the lives of young people. It is occasionally about "nudging" young people and families in their lives and faith. It is by continuing and encouraging the process of dis- cipleship and faith formation that God's transformative grace can become understood in the lives of
  God's people.
  
• Effective Youth and Family Ministry is: BaptismalStatement: Effective youth and family ministry focuses on the promises of the God who calls us uncondi- tionally into the relationship begun when we are claimed in the waters of baptism and lived out in the calling of our vocation.
  
  Biblical Basis: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” - 1 Peter 2:9
  Rationale: The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is slowly beginning to look more like a melting pot of humanity, less like a weekly reunion of people with Northern European ancestry. Along with the rich diversity of people sitting in the pews of our churches and gathering as youth groups and children's ministries comes a kaleidoscope of cultures and traditions, and an increasingly eclectic theology of who we are and how we see God at work in our midst.
  While we celebrate the truth that God is at work in all Christian Churches, as Lutherans we center on the ministry of Word and Sacrament1. Sacramentally, we understand that our identity is woven into the promises received and gifts given in baptism. Youth and family ministry that is effective rotates around the promises of grace, forgiveness, eternal life, identity and community, and the gifts which through the Holy Spirit bring and sustain life to all.
  This has absolutely nothing to do with us. It has everything to do with God, with God's love, mercy, and grace. God initiates the relationship. It is effective because of God's grace in Jesus!
  First, as professionals and volunteers in youth and family ministry, we have the privilege of entering into the brokenness of life with young people, and to accompany them as they experience God’s grace, receive the gifts, and are restored in and through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
  Second, we enter into relationship with the young person, their family, and their entire support system, mak- ing a covenant together to become the village that literally raises this child. And so we accompany and support the ministry of parents by walking alongside them as they experience the joys and struggles of raising their young people. We provide resources, we teach the children, and we teach the parents how to be church together.
  Finally, we represent the church which fully embraces and welcomes the young into the mission of God, and equips them to live out and to share the grace of the God who loves them first and foremost.
  Our call is counter cultural. Many of these youth have been conditioned to believe that their value is defined by performance in the home, at school, at church, in relationships in every arena of their lives. And we remind them that they are justified not by what they do, but through the love and grace of God. Along with the body of Christ, they are all sinners...all saints...and all justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Our baptism as infants, children, youth, or adults makes us heirs of that promise.
  How important is our baptism? Jesus’ final command in the book of Matthew is to "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." Equally important though is to remember that this command is wrapped inside a promise: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)
  
  1 In this context, we speak of word and sacrament theologically, not vocationally. In other words, we are not speaking of ministry being done exclusively by those called to the ministry of word and sacrament: pastors. Rather, we refer to a holistic view of ministry centered on the Word of God and the sacraments both as life- giving.​
  
  
• Effective Youth and Family Ministry is: Rooted
• Effective Youth and Family Minstry is: Excellence
• Effective Youth and Family Ministry is: Welcoming
• Effective Youth and Family Ministry is: Cross Generational
• Effective Youth and Family Ministry is: Advocacy
• Effective Youth and Family Ministry is: Congregational
• Effective Youth and Family Ministry is: Connected
• Effective Youth and Family Ministry is: Partnership