To integrate or not to integrate, that is the question

1. To integrate or not to integrate, that is the question Gareth Crispin – Youth, Children & Families Minister, St. John’s Lindow.

2. Today we will mostly be... Reviewing the range of approaches to the question of integrating young people into the church, from youth congregations through to all age church and everywhere in between. We’ll explore the theological underpinnings of the different approaches and the relationship between theology and practice in considering the question of integration.

3. In order to do that we will... • Place the discussion in context; • Look at the continuum of approaches to integration; • Examine features of the different ends of the continuum; • Look at Family Ministry and Intergenerational church.

4. I won't...

5. I won't... • Be telling you what you ought to do

6. Placing the discussion

7. Placing the discussion Family work Family Ministry Family Support

8. Placing the discussion Family work Family Ministry Family Support

9. Placing the discussion Work with Youth, Children & Families Segmenting Y&C Integrating Y&C

10. Placing the discussion Family Ministry Segmenting Y&C Integrating Y&C

11. Placing the discussion Within the 'We are Family' family?

12. Placing the discussion Within the 'We are Family' family? Section 6.3 Future training needs: • Develop a theology of family ministry providing the context for reflective thought and practice; • Developing approaches to family ministry: increase awareness of models of family ministry; • Family Ministry with a focus on discipleship: and equipping families to talk about faith at home; • Intergenerational Church: exploring models for all-age and intergenerational worship.

13. Placing the discussion • Within the 'We are Family' family? • Section 9.1 Key Findings: • “To focus the whole church community on supporting each other to have a lifelong relationship with Jesus. The priority is usually identified as embedding faith in children and young people so that they continue in faith into adulthood. There was a strong view expressed that parents should take back some responsibility for nurturing faith in their children. People talked about the whole church family coming together to nurture faith in each other.”

14. Placing the discussion • Within the 'We are Family' family? • Section 9.1 Key Findings: • “There is concern that traditional church models have become too differentiated in a bid to appeal to more people.” • “There is a view that the segregation has been exacerbated by a ‘consumerist’ approach.”

15. Placing the discussion • Within the 'We are Family' family? • Section 9.1 Key Findings: • “Conversely, there is concern that specialist skills are being diluted where children’s or youth workers.” (A tension we will revisit)

16. Placing the discussion • Within the 'We are Family' family? • Section 9.1 Key Findings: • “This research suggests that more opportunities to undertake training encouraging the development of knowledge and practice at a greater depth is much sought after by family workers. Enabling them to become reflective theological practitioners is a vital area to explore with potential to embed current good practice as well as cultivating valuable understanding for the future.”

17. Placing the discussion • Within the 'We are Family' family? • Section 9.1 Key Findings: • “This research suggests that more opportunities to undertake training encouraging the development of knowledge and practice at a greater depth is much sought after by family workers. Enabling them to become reflective theological practitioners is a vital area to explore with potential to embed current good practice as well as cultivating valuable understanding for the future.”

18. Placing the discussion The wider context.........

19. Placing the discussion • The wider context......... • We're talking about integrating because we see segregation and think we might want to change that.

20. Placing the discussion • The wider context......... • We're talking about integrating because we see segregation and think we might want to change that. • So let's first think about why we see segregation in Y&C ministry.

21. Placing the discussion Why do we see segregation in Y&C ministry?

22. Placing the discussion • Why do we see segregation in Y&C ministry? • Cultural reasons (emergence of adolescence and theories of adolescence and development of youth culture); • Economic reasons (economic growth and the emergence of choice, through purchasing power and market development); • Educational reasons (dominance of stage based developmental theories – Piaget et al); • Philosophical reasons (modernity and the rise of specialisation); • Social developments (e.g. Sunday school); • Religious developments (the rise of secularism and pluralism) • Theological/missiological reactions to the above.

23. Placing the discussion Y&C Church

24. Placing the discussion Segmenting Y&C Integrating Y&C ?!

25. “there is an irresolvable tension between the twin imperatives upon the church of being both an all-age community standing out from the fragmentation of society and being a community taking shape within a culture.”Mountstephen and Martin

27. Continuum of integration Increasing integration

28. Continuum of integration Increasing integration Uni Reg Local Trad FBM FEM FIM IG

29. Continuum of integration Increasing integration Uni Reg Local Trad FBM FEM FIM IG What features would you expect to see as you move between the extremes?

30. What features would you expect to see as you move between the extremes? • Some questions to help... • How would workers in this area describe themselves? • What is there view of the trinity and holy spirit? • What is their view of the established church? • What is their view of power and authority? • What is their view of culture?

32. Continuum of integration Increasing integration Uni Reg local Trad FBM FEM FIM IG

33. Continuum of integration Increasing integration FBM FEM FIM IG

34. Continuum of integration Increasing integration Family Ministry vs Intergenerational Church? FBM FEM FIM IG

35. Continuum of integration Increasing integration Family Ministry vs Intergenerational Church? FBM FEM FIM IG

36. Family ministry? “The process of intentionally and persistently coordinating a ministry’s proclamation and practices so that parents are acknowledged, trained and held accountable as primary disciple-makers in their children’s lives.” Jones

37. Inter-generational ministry? • “when a congregation intentionally brings the generations together in mutual serving, sharing or learning within the core activities of the church in order to live out being the body of Christ to each other and the greater community." • Allen & Ross

38. Points of disagreement? “The process of intentionally and persistently coordinating a ministry’s proclamation and practices so that parents are acknowledged, trained and held accountable as primary disciple-makers in their children’s lives.” Jones (FM) “When a congregation intentionally brings the generations together in mutual serving, sharing or learning within the core activities of the church in order to live out being the body of Christ to each other and the greater community." Allen & Ross (IG)

39. Points of disagreement? “The process of intentionally and persistently coordinating a ministry’s proclamation and practices so that parents are acknowledged, trained and held accountable as primary disciple-makers in their children’s lives.” Jones (FM) • Think about: • relationship between bio-legal family and church family, and; • How the community of faith interacts; • View of children. “When a congregation intentionally brings the generations together in mutual serving, sharing or learning within the core activities of the church in order to live out being the body of Christ to each other and the greater community." Allen & Ross (IG)

40. Relationship between bio-legal family and the church family • “It takes a family to raise a child.” • “It takes a parent to raise a child.”

41. Relationship between bio-legal family and the church family • “It takes a family to raise a child.” • Deuteronomy 6 as corporate

42. Relationship between bio-legal family and the church family • “It takes a parent to raise a child.” • Deuteronomy 6 as bio-legal family

43. How the community of faith interacts • Intergenerational church... • Significant stress on situative-socialcultural learning (peripheral participation). • There is learning in the process and situation.

44. How the community of faith interacts • Family Ministry... • Less recognition of the need to think about learning theory.

45. View of Children • Family Ministry... • Children as recipients

46. View of Children • Intergenerational ministry... • Children as participants

47. The way ahead? • The why and the how of integration (we know a lot about why, but not a lot about how!) • Consider these theologically (everything is theological)

48. Questions?garethcrispin@hotmail.co.uk

49. Recommended books: • Body Beautiful by Mountstephen and Martin – Grove Booklet on all age church • Mend the Gap by Jason Gardner – Book on why we're in the place we're in and what we might be able to do about it. • Family Ministry Field Guide by Timothy Paul Jones – Practical workbook on implementing Family Ministry. • Family Based Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries – Classic treatment of the why of Family based ministry (and some suggestions how too). • Intergenerational Christian Formation by Holly Allen ad Christine Ross – One of the most detailed and comprehensive treatments of Intergenerational church to date.