The theological basis for GenMin

In the recent GenMin leadership meeting in Dallas we discussed the theological framework that we embrace in Generations Ministries. We refer to this framework as "Christ-centerered" or "Trinitarian" theology because it is grounded in the person of Jesus Christ who as the second person of the Holy Trinity is one with the Father and the Spirit. Moreover, through his incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus became (and now continues to be) fully human. Through the person and work of this unique God-man in union with the Father and Spirit, we have been included by grace in the communion of God's triune life and love.

Out of this biblical understanding of God, Christ and all humanity included in Christ, flows our identity and our living as humans including the ministry activities we share in this world with Jesus as his followers. And that includes our ministry in and through GenMin. I am deeply grateful for what Christ is allowing us to be and to do with him within this ministry framework.

The key points of Christ-centered (Trinitarian) theology are helpfully summarized in the following list which has been prepared by WCG publications:

1 The Triune God created all people to participate through the vicarious humanity of Jesus Christ in the love relationship enjoyed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

2 The Son became human, the man Jesus Christ, to reconcile all humanity to God through his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension.

3 The crucified, resurrected and glorified Jesus is the representative and the substitute for humanity at the right hand of God, and he draws all people to himself by the power of the Holy Spirit.

4 In Christ, humanity is loved and accepted by the Father.

5 Jesus Christ paid for all our sins – past, present and future – and there is no longer any debt to pay.

6 The Father has in Christ forgiven all our sins, and he eagerly desires that we turn to him.

7 We can enjoy his love only when we believe that he loves us. We can enjoy his forgiveness only when we believe he has forgiven us.

8 When we respond to the Spirit by turning to God, believing the good news and picking up our cross and following Jesus, the Spirit leads us into the transformed life of the kingdom of God.

To learn more about this theology, I recommend a book that contains several essays on Trinitarian theology. It's titled "An Introduction to Torrance Theology, Discovering the Incarnate Saviour" (T&T Clark, 2007). It examines the teaching of the three Torrance brothers: Thomas, James and David who have each made major contributions to the ongoing conversation within evangelicalism concerning restoring a fully Trinitarian theology to the life and teaching of the church in the West. We feel privaleged and humbled in GenMin to be part of that conversation and movement of restoration.

GenMin Camp & Event Ministries leaders meet

I just returned from a wonderful meeting of about 50 GenMin camp & event leaders at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Camp near Dallas. We prayed together, worshipped together, ate, laughed and played together. And we discussed our vision for advancing Christ-centered, Cross-generational community within and through GenMin Camp & Event Ministries.

I'm greatly privileged to serve beside these wonderful men and women. They minister in and through 17 camps, one short-term mission trip and a new event named Encounter 2008. Our camps are diverse - wonderful expressions of regional, ethnic and other distinctives God has placed in our midst. It's great to see Jesus expressed and experienced in these diverse and beautiful ways. His life is wonderful to behold - like many facets of one diamond.

I solicit your prayers as our 2008 camp season is about to begin. We anticipate some 1500 participants/campers being served by some 750 staffers. Please pray that God reveals more of himself in and through these camps and events; pray for safety at camp and in travel; and pray that in every way Jesus is seen for who he truly is, and that we see ourselves more fully for who we are in our union with him.

Parenting with Purpose

An outstanding resource that congregations can use for teaching Christ-centered parenting to adults is the small group curriculum "Parenting with Purpose" (produced by The Center for Church Based Training - click here for additional information). The Worldwide Church of God congregation in Charlotte, NC is using this resource to good effect. Here is Pastor Martin Manuel's report:

Three small groups of older adults (most of them grandparents) started working on [Parenting with Purpose]...The idea was to provide a base to encourage younger parents...[and] to form the core of a child-friendly congregation...The seven adults [who have finished the curriculum, including Pastor Manuel and his wife who are grandparents] found the course to be outstanding. "If only," we said over and over, "we had it when our kids were small." Actually, we learned much more than Christ-like parenting. The material and study benefited us in our personal journeys with the Lord. The other two groups are singing similar praises.

Pastor Manuel's congregation is now planning to offer Parenting with Purpose to young parents:

We will offer them free babysitting and lunch once per month after worship services while they work on the course. We're calling it Parenting Ministry. It starts next month, and at this time all of our young parents have signed up for it. I am thrilled! It will take a year to complete the 12 lessons. One or more of our older adults who have completed the course will facilitate the first few meetings. Afterward, the parents will do their own facilitation. The older adults will provide babysitting with the help of teens. We are asking every family to develop a plan for parenting as advocated and instructed in the book.

And Pastor Manuel's plans don't stop there:

I am already thinking of offering the same ministry to our community. If we can get the YMCA where we meet to agree, we will volunteer it as a regular Sunday afternoon program for Y members and anyone else interested in the community.

We'll update you as we hear how this new ministry is proceeding.

Encore Generation

"Innovation 2007" published by the Leadership Network, notes the tremendous potential of the Encore Generation (senior adults) in ministry. This potential is due to three factors:

1. The explosion in the number of seniors. Today, more Americans are over age 65 than are under 18. Nearly 8,000 people a day in the U.S. are turning 60 years old, and the senior adult population is exploding at 3 times the national population growth rate (source: Social Security Administration).

2. Increased life expectancy. Someone who turned 45 years old in 2006 has a 1 in 2 chance of living to 85. In 1900, the average life expectancy for Americans was 47. Today, it is 77.

3. A new attitude toward retirement. Older adults these days tend to want to stay active and productive. 78% of them are interested in working to help the poor, elderly and others in need; 56% are interested in dealing with health issues, whether working in a hospital or with an organization fighting disease; 55% are interested in a teaching or other educational position; 45% are interested in working in a youth program (source: Civic Ventures Survey, 2005).

Many churches in the U.S. are waking up to these realities and possibilities, seeking ways to more effectively minister through seniors. Many churches have ministries that minister to seniors, but the growing set of seniors tend to be looking for ways to be active in serving through meaningful ministries.

I see this as a wonderful trend, providing a great opportunity to facilitate the participation of every believer (no matter their age) in the ministry of Jesus. Moreover, it provides a significant opportunity to advance cross-generational ministry - all age groups sharing Jesus' love and life together. As Innovation 2007 notes: "Churches are perhaps the only places where people of all generations meet in the same place on a weekly basis."

Your thoughts?

P.S. I've posted the March issue of GC2 equipper (click here) which addresses the issue of ministry in small churches. Small churches have a great opportunity to be intergenerational faith families.

Cross-generational worship?

Willow Creek Community Church (Chicago area) is renowned for drawing baby-boomers to its worship services. But it has been far less able to draw GenXers. Seeking to improve, in 1994 Willow's Dieter Zander founded Axis - a "church within the church" at Willow for young adults. Axis featured a separate worship service and other age-segregated programs for GenXers (though it did provide older adult mentors for the young adults).

Zander eventually left Willow and abandoned the idea of segregating young adults in worship. As shown in the following quote from a Nov. 8, 2000 article in Christian Century magazine, Zander now emphasizes being intentionally cross-generational in worship and other church programs.

Now helping to start new ministries in San Francisco, [Zander] urges churches to reconsider pouring resources into such projects [as Axis]. Putting all the Xers in their own auditorium, says Zander, allows us to maintain a semblance of tradition in one part of the church, while dabbling in something new in another part of the church. Xers won't learn from their forebears, and graying folks won't learn from the next generation. "I think we are shooting ourselves in the foot in the long run with Gen X, Gen Y and then Gen Z services. The segmentation could kill the church."

Couldn't the church, Zander proposes, offer seekers something radically different from the larger culture? "Wouldn't the most compelling picture to a seeker be a church that is diverse - economically, racially and generationally - with people loving each other despite those barriers? Isn't the reality of the gospel powerful enough to overcome generational divisions?" (emphasis added)

I agree with Zander's ethos and suggested methodology. What are your thoughts on the church being a presentation ("icon") of the Gospel, which transcends all human boundaries, including generational boundaries? Is the idea of one worship service accessible to all age-groups just "pie-in-the-sky" thinking?