Keegan Lenker's Musings....

Why Intergen Ministry Anyway?

What’s the Point of Intergenerational Ministry Anyway?

In recent days in my office, there has been an influx of interest from other ministries and friends around the country who have entered into a desire to not only understand but begin to implement a mindset of Intergenerational and Family Based Ministry approaches. While I in no way profess to have all the answers to this, I’m excited about some of the changes and hopes we have in our particular context both now and into the future. Here's a few answers to some questions I've been getting recently.

Have you always emphasized InterGenMin in your ministry?

I haven't emphasized this until really the last 2 years. I felt I didn't fully understand what it meant until I began to focus, learn, and surround myself with people and literature that could help. As I learn more, I realize the complexity of Intergen ministry and see there is always something new to learn and process.

What or who inspired you to incorporate InterGenMin into your ministry?

Fuller Youth Institute invited our church to participate in a cohort in 2010 which helped educate and inform us while giving us information to contextualize in our own context what that meant to be an Intergenerational community. We were coached in implementing change of our choosing and supported in the process. Anyone interested in developing this for their own context are invited to check out http://stickyfaith.org/sticky-faith-cohort

What does InterGenMin look like in your ministry now? What are the specific parts that you are very intentional about?

Intergen is a slow process. People don't like change and it takes time and I think it takes even longer in a church context. We have begun to plan and think beyond the confines of programmatic youth ministry. When we calendar we are thinking creatively about how to get people of all ages engaged with us in unique ways. Here's a few examples:

Senior 2 Senior - Our primetime pastor and I have done a Senior 2 Senior event where the senior adults take on the seniors in high school in one on one relationships for their senior year. You can't force connections, but you can make efforts for those connections to take place. This worked for some and not for others. We didn't finish well but had students givens presence by senior adults who feel the need to do more than just pray and give money.

Intergen mission trip - This will be our third year in going on an intergenerational mission trip. Doing this trip so the youth are enmeshed in everything the adults are doing is crucial for relational development. We don't have the youth do their own separate thing. The first two years has brought growth and even helped to gain volunteers of all ages into our ministry.

The next is developing strategies that get parents resourced in doing spiritual formation for students. So many parents feel the church doesn't help in this and we're trying to help resource and think of the family unit in youth ministry rather than just the students. The time spent with youth pastors is unbalanced and out of line. More time can be spent with families so their are receptive to the resourcing we are trying to do.

What are the difficulties with incorporating InterGenMin into a church?

It's imperative you define the difference between multigen and intergen. Most churches with older adults will think they are intergen because they have kids in their church building. When you ask who they invest in they don't even know their names. So, that makes it a multigen church.

An intergen church takes a lot of education. Be willing to talk about the differences with people so they can see the difference. It takes time to educate and a message that needs repeating over and over.

When we did our monthly trainings for mission trips, I reiterated the same message over and over each month. By the time we got to Guatemala, there was still only a handful of adults and students that "got it." The education of it never is over.

What are the benefits of having an InterGenMin Ministry?

It's biblical. The Israelites modeled who they were as a people all the time. They would retell their story at dinner so future generations had an understanding of they were and who they were called to be.

The adage "it takes a village to raise a child" should be heeded in a world where this mentality seems to be disappearing. Especially in church buildings where many students come who have parents that don't attend, having significant followers of Christ who are living it out and investing in these students is crucial to set a model of invitation.

I'm yet to read anywhere where we are called to be the segregated and siloed Body of Christ. I'm convinced the future of youth ministry is dependent upon the ability of the church to educate, teach, model, and live out what the Body of Christ can look like together.

Share one story or example of how you’ve seen InterGenMin play out positively in your church?

From our Senior to Senior ministry, we had one gentleman who had gone on our first mission trip who took to one particular student. As he journeyed with this student he took the time to listen, be present, and speak into this young man's life. This student moved on to college and this man took time to continue investing. This boys life took a dramatic turn when his parents went through a divorce. The man and his wife had ministered in this journey not only with the young man, but with his family so when the brokenness of this family was exposed, they were able to step in and minister as needed. Senior to Senior turned into Family to Family where they continue to journey and share life together.

What are the first steps you recommend for a church wanting to go in this direction?

Find stories where this takes place in your context already. Begin to listen and watch for intergen relationships happen organically and begin to tell those stories to anyone who will listen. When I first got excited about this, my first response was to find 3 stories. When I found those 3 stories, I didn't stop telling them. I told them in any platform I was allowed. Stories motivate and and invite. People begin to wonder if they have what it takes. Since then, numerous other stories have risen up for me to tell.

This process takes time. A very long time. I recently read a book that indicated it takes 2-3 years to get buy in from a church context and and additional 3-5 years to fully implement. When I read that it was discouraging and encouraging at the same time. I don't feel I have to change everything immediately, but can go slowly and peel back the layers to see what additional areas of Intergen are needed in my particular context.

Model this in your home and life. I feel I can’t speak into this honestly until I’m honest about how this plays out in my own marriage and family. We take seriously the statistics that say the primary influence on a child’s spiritual development is the parents. Here’s a few things we do:

Family Meetings – Each Sunday night we gather and speak affirmations into one another’s lives. Our 5 year old and our 2 year old do this as well as we feel it’s important to give them a voice in our home at an early age. (Even though my 2 year appreciates we watched Tangled with her, she still has a voice)

Dinner conversation – Each night we have dinner around the table together (for us that’s about 4 times a week) we share our highs from the day, lows from the day, a mistake we made, (we want our children to understand making mistakes is a way that we grow) and where we saw God at work. This is profoundly deep, but on occasion my wife and I are surprised at what our children absorb and learn.

Nightly routines – Our children have routines each night and one is reading scripture and talking about Christ in ways that hopefully avoid legalistic approaches to talking about Christ, and we are intentional about how we pray over our children. They could repeat that prayer back to us now, but we want the DNA of their spirituality to be Christ and their reactions are Christ first.

The sooner you can get your Senior Pastor on board the better the process can be in your particular context. I constantly hear of churches that struggle because senior pastors haven’t taken the time (because they have other things going on) or just think it might be “the next thing” in youth ministry. Any time your Senior Pastor can give you time where you can explain in healthy way what intergen ministry is, capitalize on that time and be prepared with appropriate information.

Lastly I'd encourage anyone who has a heart for this to begin reading and put your hands on books that can help to educate you even more as you seek to educate others. Here's a few books in my library that are helping to facilitate this process in my own context.

Family Ministry Field Guide - Timothy Paul Jones

Think Orange - Reggie Joiner

Passing on the Faith - Merton Strommen and Richard Hardel

A Theology for Family Ministries - Michael and Michelle Anthony

One Church Four Generations - Gary McIntosh

Sticky Faith  - Kara Powell and Chap Clark

 

Kingdom Kids

Ever so often you get recommended a book that you think will be one that will help you be more  efficient or better in what you do for a living and then when you read it, it makes you a better parent. I'm finishing up a book entitled Family Ministry Field Guide by Timothy Paul Jones.

If any of you know me that well I've becomed consumed with intergenerational ministry, resourcing families, and creating partnerships with churches and families for the sake of spiritual formation. In the midst of all the books I'm reading and stories I'm experiencing, my life is changing as I think about how that affects me as a husband, father, and pastor. (in that order)

One particular chapter significantly captured my attention. To sum it up quickly it began to challenge parents as what it would look like if we began to look at our children as partners in the Kingdom of God. In that partnership your role as a parent isn't taken away, but you are dreaming for thier lives what it would mean if you invited them into the Kingdom life alongside you and pointed out the times you saw the Kingdom play out for them. I began to day dream what this would look like for me and then this happened:

We've been finishing up an Advent booklet together as a famiy and walked together through the journey of advent and then into the days of Christmas following. The other day (right after reading this chapter) the challenge was to pray for those in your life you know are sick and then do something for them to let them know they are loved. We listed off several names and each took a turn praying for many in our lives struggling with cancer, recent deaths, or who are hurting in some way. (PS to hear a 5 year old or 2 year old call out to God people by name is a faith booster in itself)

I mentioned it may be a good idea for the kids to draw a picture of someone they prayed for. My son thought it meant right now. He grabbed a piece a paper and began to draw and then said we should send some money to them to help them. I mentioned food and then he said he wanted to give his own money. He drew a picture of a manger scene, wrote down he prayed for a lady who is battling leukemia in our church, and then handed me two pennies to send to her. There I found the kingdom. There I found an opportunity to tell him it was alive in him.

I spent 2 minutes explaining how amazing it was that he was thinking of others. I mentioned it was so amazing that he took the time to pray and then tried to validate him by saying the Kingdom of alive in him. I know he's 5, I know he may not grasp everything about the kingdom, but 5 minutes together as a family may make a huge difference.

Each night when we pray over our kids we pray, "God help us to remember we belong to you and help us to learn to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to be an example of what love looks like in this world."

When we look at our kids as more than just our kids, but partners in the kingdom, it elevates our own understanding of the Kingdom of God.

You're loved.

 

A Heartache That Compels

I’ve only been actively involved in full-time youth ministry for about 10 years.  It’s probably fair to say   those that have been involved in some capacity longer than that should be writing this, as they would have a better take and reality.

 Our culture has changed so much in the last decade or so that they have affected our local churches in huge ways. For example, it’s not too uncommon that I take a trip where we’re on a “media fast” that a parent tells me their child won’t go unless they can have their cell phone. Remember when we said we’d call a couple times while we were gone to check in so parents knew we were okay?

As media has increased and students take in more information than we know what to do, Tim Elmore in his book iY Generation notes that students today are the most informed of any generation in history and yet the most emotionally immature.  They don’t know how to deal with this information that comes at them in levels incomprehensible to even me, just a generation before them.

That info has even changed how we approach teaching as well. They can’t pay attention as long and so we have to find creative ways to invite them into participation in the Kingdom of God. I’m not opposed to this at all as I love it, but in just a decade our world has changed in major ways through terrorist threats, devastating earthquakes, tsunamis, political upheaval, wars, and debates over family systems.

Chap Clark in his book Hurt would say that many of the people we help today during ministry have not had what he calls the necessary social capital to help them transition into adulthood in healthy ways. Those people are not just in churches, but everywhere we go. Social capital comes from a mom and a dad that give to their children what they need for this necessary transition.

In fact, doing this in ministry can feel very defeating at times, as it seems each class carries a greater burden into ministry than the one that preceded it. Angry kids, kids with the lowest self-esteem, fear over meeting parents expectations, a demand on grades to get into a “decent” college, and the list goes on and on. These kids go our churches every week.

Sometimes getting one more email or text message can put you on the brink of just wanting to quit and go somewhere else and start over. Yet that won’t do anything but delay what’s coming in the future.

The heartache I feel not just for students, but families, and strangers alike is what compels me to keep going. The depth of love I feel for these lives is addictive to the point that that one email or text could just be the starting point of a deeper relationship or connection to the hope that I have in Jesus.

This all came to a head for me sitting and listening to our Senior Pastor, Scott Daniels' sermon. He hits this head on and I’d recommend it if you’re interested here. (October 16, 2011) He addresses the importance of our role in helping students come to grips with an authority beyond themselves.

Whatever position you are paid or volunteer at, whether it’s in the church or the largest corporation in the world, take heart cause this brokenness is everywhere and we get to be a part of the restoration that Jesus is doing in our world.

As much as our hearts may break at the next news story or text message where you hoped a student wouldn’t make that choice, to the divorce that will spill into so many lives, allow this heartache to compel you where you are to keep going.

You’re loved.

Why I Got Rid of My iPad 2

As many other people last week, I was greatly anticipating the arrival of the iPad 2. In fact, I found  myself in one of those lines in Pasadena a few hours before the actual release. While standing there in line my brother-in-law made it known that we were in line with a serious amount of nerds. I could hardly argue with him until I realized that I had become one of those nerds.

As I stood there at roughly the 230^th spot in line which mind you wrapped around the corner and the end of the block, I began to wait and listen to those around me discussing whether we would get the product we so hastily worshiped in some way or another. Colors, specs, covers, predictions, etc were all common conversations for the course of my what would be a four-hour experience.

Yet even as I stood there there existed a feeling of discomfort that had settled over me a few days before that I couldn’t seem to shake. An inner voice that began to speak that I attempted to justify as I thought about how I’d saved for months in anticipation of this glorious day.

Roughly three hours after I got in line I received an infamous ticket informing me of the fact I was guaranteed an iPad 2, but no guarantee of the one I wanted.  Might I add I was racing time cause my son had a pre-school performance that night at 7 and it was now 6:15pm.

Alas, I got into the store and quickly shouted out I wanted the black 32 GB Wi-Fi and a red cover to go with it. Without much hesitation I whipped out my credit card and signed as feverishly as I could to hit the exit running for the car for my son’s big moment singing “O Susanna.” The inner voice kept speaking.

After his performance I ended up hanging with a bunch of my students for some games in our youth room and then the inner voice took on flesh. It came in the voice of one of my Juniors. “Keegz, you’ve a Macbook and you’ve got an iPhone, why do you need an iPad?” Deep within me rose a spirit of defensiveness as I rattled off some excuse of my “need” for it in my continuing grad work. It was in that moment I needed come to grips with the truth being spoken by one of my students. One of those in being the difference between need and want.

I went home and did what most (at least men) do when they get their newest tech toy. I opened it as fast as I could and caressed her in her beauty and plugged it in and began setting up every free app I was convinced I couldn’t live without. All things around me went blurry as this new possession began to own me.

I was going to use this primarily for my grad work and e-books for the schooling, but quickly found out that the search engine isn’t offered by the program I use in my studies so I found another reason I didn’t need it.

I went to bed and couldn’t fall asleep as I wrestled now with whether or not I could practice what I preach. In fact I’m not sure it was a coincidence the release happened 2 days after Lent began.

The next day I had a meeting and when it was over I headed home. I began to really listen with the inner voice and speak how I wanted to do the right thing for me and now had to wrestle with whether or not I would. I knew what I needed to do. I needed to take it back.

I gave up the radio in my car for Lent and got lost in my thoughts. I found myself (somehow) in downtown LA. So I did what I usually do when I need affirmation or talk through a decision I've been debating. I called my wife. She affirmed my thinking and I knew she would.

Rather than debating if I should take it on vacation this week to “see if I would really use it,” I decided in that moment to rid myself of something that in just a few months had taken possession of me in ways I apparently was blinded by.

The mind is a powerful thing. I’m not sure we recognize it too often. I think we often blame sin on our actions when in reality we commit the sin in our minds first and convince ourselves that what we are about to do is okay.

The reverse is true as well. When we convince ourselves in our minds of what the right thing to do is, often there is nothing that will stop us from doing that either.

At this point in downtown LA, the least thing I wanted now in my possession was the iPad or anything tied to it cause I wanted to be free of it.

If you own an iPad 2 and love it, I think it’s great. I hope you have many years of happy lives together. I think this blog happens to really be about the things or people in our lives that take away and distract from deeper things going on in our spirituality. For me it happened to be an iPad 2. For you it may be something different.

This week I’m enjoying vacation with my family and feel as though one small distraction in my life has been taken away from me and I can be a better dad and husband. In fact, I think the friend that really wanted one who was in the car when I was on my way to return it is enjoying the ipad she ended up buying from me.

She didn’t even have to way 4 hours in line either.

You’re loved.

A Brief Look Back

I spent the Holidays with my parents in Northern Idaho where I believe Christmas should be spent. I love living in California 50 weeks out of the year, but it’s the two weeks I can be in the snow, trees, and mountains where I think Christmas is Christmas. Then I get to come back to the remaining part of the year where it’s 72 and sunny the rest of winter.

As I look back at this Christmas, there is something that sticks out to me every year that catches me by surprise and teaches or reminds me something new about how I live my life.

My grandpa is in his 80’s and not doing too well these days. He’s in a nursing home and has a hard time being there, but is learning it’s a good fit for him right now. He was a pastor in the Nazarene Church for many years, but he lived a fair distance from us and we didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him.

As you may do in your family, we draw names to see who buys a gift for someone in the family and this year my older brother got my dad’s name. My brother is living his musical dream in Nashville these days and while he may struggle financially, he loves living in his passion, and for him, it’s music through and through.

When it came time for my dad to open the gift from my brother, my brother handed my dad a CD. On the cover my dad probably assumed it was some new music my brother had been working on, but my brother told my dad to read the back.

As my dad flipped it over, he was blown away by what he discovered. A few years ago when I my brother was touring in the Northwest, he stopped by my grandparents house, brewed a pot of coffee, and spent 2 hours recording a conversation with my grandpa about life, ministry, how he met my grandma, his time on Normandy Beach in WWII, etc.

As you may expect my dad was overcome with emotion. My brother got to see his work completed in my dad receiving the gift. Then I said something to lighten the mood as many of us do when we get uncomfortable and briefly ruined a great moment for our family.

While there may be many things to draw from a story like this, here’s what I took from it: What my brother offered to my dad was more than a gift. It was information to sustain my dad on the memory of my grandpa. It was a lot time invested on purpose so that another might be blessed by that time.

As I look back on that moment, it got me thinking about being home and the people in my life where more time may be needed to help sustain them in their everyday lives.

The tragedy for many of us is we wish discipleship could be packaged in our time limits and our clock. The tendency is to go strong for awhile and then fade away as change doesn’t happen the way we think it should. Time is crucial in the process of faith and it means we may need to sacrifice things we see as important to spend time with people that need the gift of presence.

As I’ve looked back and you look forward, it’s my hope that we could be a community that will take the necessary time to be present with people that Jesus himself says deserves the Kingdom as much as we feel we do.