Sharing Stories of Future Hope

I’ve written before about our desire as a local church to move to a place where we are more intergenerational.  This is a huge DNA and ethos shift, not just a slight programmatic tweak.  Intergenerational is not the result of throwing a few people from different generations into the same room.  That may be multigenerational, but it is not intergenerational.  Intergenerational ministry is when people from multiple generations are ministering together, learning together, sharing with one another, and most importantly teaching each other.  And none of these things is a one-way street from oldest to youngest.  We believe our adults can learn from our students as much as our students can learn from our adults.

However, as we seek to implement this more holistic approach to ministry, there are challenges.  I heard it said (maybe by Dr. Scott Cormode of Fuller Seminary) that people are not afraid of change, but they are afraid of loss.  This is so true and what we are trying to do has the potential to feel like loss to people.  Why?  Not because we are doing away with any one thing in particular, but because we are making adjustments that may take people out of their comfort zones and into unknown and uncharted territory.  When you leave the known for the unknown it can feel like loss. 

Dr. Cormode has also mentioned that if we are to help people through times of change one thing that can be a significant benefit to the process is sharing stories of future hope.  I have struggled with really grasping what he was talking about until last night.  My wife graduated from Wheaton College and there was a gathering of Wheaton graduates at a friend’s house last night.  At this gathering, Dr. Phil Ryken, the president of Wheaton College, took about 20 minutes to share some of his experiences on campus.  As he talked and shared stories of students and faculty, I was struck by his approach.  I am a Taylor University graduate and if you know anything about the TU culture, there is a fun rivalry between TU and Wheaton.  Thus, I have no real vested interest in hearing about Wheaton College, but by the time Dr. Ryken was finished I wanted to send my kids to Wheaton.  I was on board with the mission and vision of the college.  Through the entire presentation I found myself thinking “this is what Dr. Cormode was talking about.”  This is the power of story.  This is how we help our families to see the value of intergenerational ministry.  We share stories.  I get it.