Training Digest
Mend the Gap:
Can the Church reconect the generations?‘You have to try and kill your elders.. we had to develop a whole new vocabulary, as indeed is done generation after generation. To take the recent past and restructure it in a way that we felt we had authorship of.. that was our world, not the hippie thing. It all made sense to me it was a uniform for an army that didn’t exist.’
One of the greatest challenges facing the church is how, in the context of a rapidly changing society, do we ensure that we can pass down faith in a relevant way to younger generations? Changes in culture have been so marked over the past decades that it seems an impossible task to unite generations that have grown up in the same country but in entirely different worlds.
Is the only solution, as Bowie suggests, to rip it up and Start again? To find new ways of being church that connect with today’s youth? And does this inevitably mean that part of the church gets left behind?
Of course we’ve already witnessed this happen in church. We’ve seen youth congregations, alternative worship groups, emerging church, we see the signs that different generations are finding new ways, new languages with which to express faith in ways that connect to them.
But is this split inevitable? And, more importantly, is it what Jesus envisioned for his church? And while many churches focus on employing youth workers to create links with young people is it an approach that’s working when it comes to creating a healthy intergenerational church?
Join us for the Northern launch of Jason Gardner’s book Mend the Gap, which explores how we can build healthy all age discipling communities. The evening will be a ‘café style’ mix of talks, lively discussion, and a ‘generations’ quiz.
‘I couldn’t put this book down…. Because it dares to prophetically and powerfully challenge the compartmentalizing of church whilst offering some practical suggestions on how to build a vibrant cross-generational community.’
Matt Summerfield, Executive Director Urban Saints.
Things you need to know: To book a place (essential), please contact manchester@licc.org.uk or 07907 954664.
Cost: £6 (Concessions £4) including coffee and cake.
Refreshments: Coffee and cake provided.
Venue: Starbucks, Oxford Road, Manchester
Further information is available from www.churchmcr.com/Licc_Manchester and a pdf flier for the event can be downloaded by clicking here.
