Dear Grace Family,

        As I enjoy the air conditioned comfort of my study, the weather outside is warm and humid.  But I am reminded that we have but a few weeks remaining of our summer season.

        Change is in the air!  With autumn comes cooler weather, shorter days and longer nights.  Change.  Some welcome it while others reluctantly adjust to it and count the days until next spring and summer!  I’m reminded of a conversation many years ago with one of our members who spoke of his preference for winter because, he said, “There is so much more to do outside.”  Thinking he was joking, I laughed.  But he was serious.  He was – and still is – and active outdoorsman.  So some of us prefer the warm summer months while others of us prefer the cold and snow of winter.  That’s just the way it is! We are not all cut from the same mold.  And it’s okay.

        Jan and I attended an “Intergenerational Workshop” at the BGC/Converge biennial meetings in Denver last month.  The speaker was Pastor Gary Menconi, author of The Intergenerational Church.  He described the tension and misunderstanding that exists among Christians of differing generations because of the differences that exist in how we see the world, how we understand God, how we learn, in our expressions of worship, and in many other ways as well.  Because of this tension, it is no small task to unite the generations, but it’s doable.   On one level it means creating opportunities for generations to serve together in the church or in outreach, like a mission team with students, parents, and grandparents all serving together!  Or we could invite some of our “Greatest Generation” seniors to speak with our students about what it was like growing up during the Great Depression, or during WW II.  We could have older members volunteer to work with children, or we could encourage our students to visit our seniors in their homes just to nurture those relationships!   We could have intergenerational leadership teams for various purposes.  With more and more people living into their 90’s and beyond, we have a goldmine of godly wisdom and experience to tap into while we still can!  Menconi said that by the year 2040, America will boast of more than 600,000 Centenarians! 

        What does this say about the church?  Are there some changes we need to make in order to address the different needs of each generation while at the same time doing all we can to keep the generations together? 

        Worship is at the same time the single most unifying thing we do together and at times the most dis-unifying. Too often one generation merely tolerates the music of another generation; the older generation (generally) says “I love my hymns; I just can’t sing those new songs!” The younger generation (generally) prefers the newer songs to the older.  So we tolerate one another’s music.   Or, we decide to embrace the substance, or message, of the music and decide not to be put off by the style.  But that is very hard to do. 

        How do we address this concern?  I believe it helps to see music as a language of worship.  We worship best in our own language; all of us speak English, but the words are only part of the language of worship – the music is the other part.  Visit a church in South America and you will hear sounds that are foreign to you, but you will see the joyous faces of the worshippers as they lift their hearts heavenward in their own words and melodies of worship.  I talked to a new missionary to Uruguay who told me how glad she was that she had grown up there, and could already speak the “heart language” of the people. This “heart-language” principle applies to our preferences of music in worship.   Most churches respond to these differences by offering two or more different worship services – one for those whose language of worship is more traditional; the other for those whose language of worship is modern or contemporary. 

        This is something the deacons and worship team leaders are considering out of concern for our own church family as well as the community we seek to reach for Jesus.  For many years we have offered a “blended” style of worship music. Some Sundays it is more contemporary and other times it is more traditional.  From conversations with many of our worshipers, it is evident that it has not worked well.  Whether younger or older, we all worship best in our own “heart language.”  The deacons, who oversee worship, have spent much time over the past two or more years discussing, praying, and evaluating how people are responding to worship at Grace. It has been further discussed on the board and committee levels, and was addressed by the deacons at the July 18 quarterly congregational meeting. The proposal would be to have a more traditional worship service first, followed by a more contemporary service later.  Sunday School would be held at the same time as the earlier traditional service. Please note that nothing has yet been decided!

        The Apostle Paul counsels the church in Ephesus to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).  Unity doesn’t require us to all speak the same worship language, but it does require that we love one another and serve together while affirming the special way God is at work in each of us.

         Thank you for praying about this!  It won’t happen this fall, but possibly in January.  You will hear more about it, and ample opportunity will be given to discuss it as a church.

Serving Him with you,
    Pastor Doug Green