 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||
|
 |
Intergenerational Worship
At Covenant Fellowship, we are pretty big on the idea of intergenerational worship. This is a key characteristic which bears heavily upon whether a person or family would be comfortable worshipping with us. By "intergenerational," we mean worship and community life that includes everybody. We try very hard not to segregate the congregation out by age, marital status, gender, age of children, or whatever. We’re sort of all thrown in together. Children participate in worship with their parents (although we have nursery for the wee ones and Sunday school for our younger children during the sermon time). The mix and the building of relationships across generational lines contributes greatly to our understanding of ourselves as a church family.
Covenant Fellowship does not have extensive children’s programs. This is by design and is a reflection of our intergenerational approach and organizational simplicity. But does this mean that we are not committed in ministry to children or to families?
Covenant Fellowship does not have extensive children’s programs because of the particular way that it is committed to children and to families. Let me explain.
First of all, we believe that God has given primary responsibility for the Christian nurture of children to parents, and that it is parents who have the most profound influence upon their children’s developing spirituality. It is in the midst of everyday life that children will learn from their parents what it means to be a Christian, what it is to know and love God, what is right and wrong, how to trust God, how to react to difficult situations, how to pray and read Scripture, etc. This training process, we learn from the Scripture, is to be an important part of everyday family life. Thus the most important thing we can do for children is help build up their parents in the faith. We do not think that the present trend of handing over more and more responsibility for the training of children to the state or to the church is a good thing for children or for families. The church is not a surrogate parent.
Second, children in the context of church need to see and experience how their parents and other believers live out Christian community together. Thus as much as is reasonably possible we want families to be together in cell groups and in worship on Sundays. We also want children to build relationships with older people in the congregation, whether older children or adults, and so we want children to have time with these older people. This is what we mean by Covenant Fellowship being "intergenerational." We try to make what we do as accessible as possible to children, and we pick out songs and activities with all ages in mind. You would have to see it for yourself, but this integenerational approach adds up to a lot of joy for the children!
Third, we believe that children can offer so much back to others. Thus our children participate in Scripture reading, in sharing and praying, and in almost every other aspect of the life of the church.
Fourth, we strongly encourage parents to have their children active in the Greensboro community, through service projects and also through activities like sports and music lessons and school.
All that being said we do have nursery on Sundays for the very young children, and Sunday School for children up through fifth grade. And during our "Open Time" we often take the young children on walks outside or spend time with them separately in other ways.
Now what about teens? Do we not have special programs for teens? Do we have a youth program or a youth group?
In fact, Covenant Fellowship does not have a "youth program" or a "youth group." We do however have many teens who are a vital and central part of the life of the church. Basically this is what we do: The teens participate in the cell groups with their families, and in the Sunday worship with everybody else. They are a key part of the life of the congregation. On Sundays the teens help set things up, participate in all parts of worship, help with nursery, help serve the meal to the young children, often gathering together after the meal to play ball or enjoy some other outdoor activity. Every two weeks the teens participate in a Sunday night teen Bible study, and regularly have a Saturday outing, such as skating, bowling, hiking, playing football, etc. with oversight given by individuals who have a keen interest in young people. The teens also engage in service projects in the community. |
 |
|
 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
