By Tiffany Mills, Co-Director of C4SO’s Children’s and Family Ministry Network
Can the faith of adults and children really be formed in the same space? The Family Life team [I lead] at Christ Church Anglican‘s Overland Park congregation—along with our Worship and Spiritual Formation teams—decided it was time to find out!
The Event
In the past, the Family Life team hosted an “Advent Family Event,” and our Spiritual Formation team hosted “Advent Evening Prayer.” This year, we decided to merge those two events into one intergenerational Advent experience with the goal of “forming” the entire community in one shared space.
Our Worship and Formation teams did a wonderful job of creating a service that was inviting to both adults and children alike. For example, we involved the children in worship with simple ideas like calling for stillness instead of silence, and having the children collectively respond as part of the litany phrase.
Adults: Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.Children: O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Adults: See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,Children: O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Mutual participation helped the parents feel at ease and the kids feel engaged. Hearing the voices of children ring out from the congregation was such a glimpse of heaven.
The Activity
After listening to a homily on “Waiting in Hope,” we invited every adult and child to write a prayer about something they were waiting for. Each person then came forward to drop those prayer cards into a basket. We incorporated these prayer cards into a take-home Advent activity kit that people carried with them as they were leaving, committing to praying throughout Advent for the person who wrote on their card. This sparked a way to pray for one another throughout the Advent season, reminding us that the entire church community holds each other in prayer!
The Takeaway
Our entire team came together to accomplish the goal of intergenerational formation for the whole congregation, and we truly saw the Holy Spirit move as we created space for every worshipper during Advent.
Have you hosted an intergenerational formation event at your church? Tell us about it.
Tiffany Mills is the Director of Family Life at Christ Church Anglican in Kansas City. She also serves as Co-Director of C4SO’s Children’s and Family Ministry Network.