Dear Rose Park
If the discipleship of children must be paramount for the church of 2050, then I hope and pray we are not going through the motions when it comes to loving, encouraging, supporting, teaching, or modeling God’s love to future generations. A 2022 Barna study concluded, “children who have a meaningful relationship with an adult in the church are more likely to be rooted in Scripture, to be grounded in children’s ministry and the life of the church, and to externalize faith and move towards generous, countercultural behavior. Strong intergenerational connections don’t happen by accident. For the future church we must invest in community-building today.”
I wrote the above paragraph in a previous letter to the church dated November 2, 2022. To read the entire letter, you can click here. This letter is almost two years old. I’ve been thinking about the church at Rose Park of 2050 ever since and if we desire a hopeful future for the next generation then we need to keep thinking, talking, discerning, and praying. Praise God, we’re not alone in our thinking, talking, discerning, and praying.
Our denomination, along with the Christian Reformed Church, is having a similar conversation through an intergenerational mentor program called Generation Spark. To watch an introductory video about Generation Spark, click here. In short, Generation Spark partners with the local church to build authentic intergenerational relationships between 16-24-year-olds and spiritual mentors in your church.
Too often, we think of mentorship as something that is limited to pastors, therapists, or spiritual directors. But if we are to take our baptismal promises seriously, then all Christians ought to consider their responsibility to mentor the next generation. Regardless of if you’re a parent/grandparent or not, all of us can intentionally invest in the lives of the next generation. For some, this might mean taking the initiative to show up to a soccer game or piano recital. For others, this might mean striking up a conversation after worship over coffee and cookies to see what they’re up to this summer. And still for others, this might be a faithful commitment to praying for our children as they grow in their faith.
Again, I hope we aren’t going through the motions when it comes to modeling the love of Jesus to the next generation. It’s one of my greatest hopes and prayers that we can intentionally model and share the love of Christ with the next generation so that the church might continue to connect, empower, and reconcile.
Grace & Peace,
