This November we completed our 16th Lifeway Women Leadership Forum and it was the best ever according to attendees! I always have a blast being with these leaders and hope you will attend next year! Click this link to find out dates.
We asked attendees to share their ministries that have been planned or have already been successful at connecting the generations. I will share those in several blog posts so you can see what is working. Please tell us what you are doing to connect the generations.
Colleen shares an idea you may have thought was passé!:
This past year, we held a “tea.” I know most churches are doing away with this, but we hadn’t had one in a long time. HOWEVER, it was not a traditional tea. Each “female” (targeted all ages) was given a shallow sturdy paper bowl (the ones we found had larger circumferences) that they were to decorate as a hat. The only rule was that this had to be the base or used in creating. We had prizes for most creative, most feminine, most “tomboyish,” best group (encouraged to make similar hats as a team), most unusual, and most outrageous. Each adult (defined as teenager and up) participant was given “tickets” with each of these categories on it. During the mingle time, they were encouraged to give their vote to the person with the hat they believed embodied this category. (Children younger than teenagers were all given prizes.) The person collecting the most votes won.
Decorations and the meal were simple. Each table was decorated differently with a mix of borrowed teapot, small teddy bear, fake pearls, lace, etc. We had a small table set for a child’s tea party with bears in each seat and a child’s tea set. We served a variety of teas (hot and iced) in china cups that were borrowed. We cut sandwiches into fourths (with the crust cut off) alongside fresh fruit and salad.
We had a photographer take pictures of family groups or other groups and had these pictures provided to the participants the following Sunday.
One of our team members had a devotion that addressed our inner adornment (1 Peter 3:3-4)
Result: Our church attendance is about 180 (men, women, and children) average and we had 60 females from infancy/toddler to over 80 years in attendance. Some brought other family members who didn’t attend along with them – there were a lot of 3 and 4 generation groups. These mixed ages mingled while looking at the hats. There was a lot of laughter and changing tables to talk to other groups. SUCCESS!!!
Watch for more ideas coming soon!
Helpful Resources:
Women Reaching Women, Revised and Expanded version, Chris Adams
Lost and Found, Stetzer, Stanley & Hayes
Context, Threads by Lifeway
The Millenials, Thom Rainer & Jess Rainer
Respect: Meaningful Ministry with Baby Boomers in your Church and Community, Craig & Gandy
Essential Church, Rainer & Rainer
Simple Church, Rainer & Geiger
www.lifeway.com/womenreachingwomen
The Barna Group on-line, http://barna.org
Gen Trends, http://www.gentrends.com/
Scouting the Divine, Margaret Feinberg
No Other Gods, Kelly Minter
Interrupted, Jen Hatmaker
Sacred Roads, Heather Zempel
The Tough Sayings of Jesus, Michael Kelley
What Do You Do With Your Wait?, Mike Harder
Connect the Dots, Mike Hurt
unChristian, David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons