After-Action Report from the CROSS+GEN MINISTRIES CONFERENCE
I went to earlier this month
A few of us went earlier this month to a local version of
the Rev. Dr. Rich Melheim’s Cross+Gen
event that he’s doing around the
US.
(More on him here – http://www.faithink.com/about/richmelheim.asp)
He’s a Lutheran pastor who's always struggled
with dyslexia, in school wondering if he was dumb, grew up to use his “seeing
things differently” as a gift, and uses his musical interests, his interests in
neuro science and art and education, to not only help others learn better, but
to also help the faith grow! He’s also very interested in intergenerational
faith-work. And this is what this whole
Gross+Gen thing is all about.
Years ago he and his company became known for their work with
church Confirmation programs and materials.
He’s helped many congregations re-think youth education. It’s no surprise we mainline denominations have
a problem attracting and retaining young people in church… assuming we want to
keep things as they have always been done. Some statistics he shared: Between 1990 and 2010 the number of children
attending Mainline Church Sunday School has dropped by a little more than
60%. While I’m sure this statistic is
also affected by things like the drop in fertility rates, and people having
fewer children in general, for sure another reality is fewer people going to
church.
There’s no getting around the fact that the Christian
landscape across the US is changing from what it was back in “the day”. Why are people less interested in church
than they used to be… while at the same time still very interested in things
spiritual?
He often refers to the “older” cultures where people lived
and learned from the various generations all together. And it worked for millennia. Our modern church educational programs are
all struggling, after just a few generations.
And we have some cultural trends that really challenge the unity and integrity
of the nuclear family, not to mention the unity of the extended family.
The focus was on a pretty simple principle called the “Faith
5”... but with some expansions and explanations through a mix of neurology
(interesting things that help/inhibit healthy learning and growing, at all
ages, particularly the young) and theology (God and Christ still have something
to say to us even… perhaps especially… in our modern world).
1.
SHARE – Sharing Highs and Lows.
“What
does it do for a child to share highs and lows in the context of a loving
family or a group of trusted friends? How
might the sharing of joys and hurts, concerns and dreams, values and faith enrich
a family?”
2.
READ – Reading a key verse, something important
to the day/moment, etc.
“Explore the power of God’s word. How might including bible stories in the
bed-time routine enrich a child’s faith, emotional health and spiritual
imagination?”
3.
TALK – Make some connections between the
Highs/Lows, the bible verse/stories, etc.
“What happens when God’s Word is applied
to the Highs and Lows of each day? What does
it do to a child, a parent, a family to come together nightly seeking God’s
wisdom and will?”
4.
PRAY – For one another, for their Highs and Lows…
“What happens
people pray? How does prayer change the
situation? How does prayer change
you? What happens to children who grow up
with their Highs and Lows brought to God in prayer every night of their lives? What happens to children who grow praying
for their parents?”
5.
BLESS – one another.
“What happens
when a child goes to sleep every night knowing they are loved, safe, and
blessed? What happens to children who
bless their parents every night? What does
blessing do to the blesser? To the blesse? To the world?”
We investigated not only this Faith 5 concept in particular
for use with families, but also looked at this concept for use in a larger
church context. From the paperwork he gave us that day: “Our goal in this conversation is to design a
new model on Sunday morning that sets aside prime time for the prime purpose of
holding families together in a world that can tear them apart.” He shares…
“why not create blended
‘eduworship’ environments that gather
families around the same Bible story or theme, equip them with
Cross+Generational allies, and launch them out the door together for a week
long engagement with the Word and World?”
I came away from this day with an overall sense of time well-spent. Some of this wasn’t new to me, so this was a
good refresher for sure. Although there was the unmistakable sense of
someone selling a product (in this case to help you with ministry) I suppose this is how we do things. And in general, I do “buy” the idea that we
have to “do church differently” or we’ll face a continued drastic decline in
participation. One of these changes is
to make faith (and God) more accessible, more connectable… while still retaining a sense of the
holy. And helping families, friends,
congregations, connect (in a time and era where we have more electronic ways to
“connect”… but people feel more alone than ever) is certainly a good
thing.
I have not seen these videos, but I assume (knowing him and what he does... I think it's a safe assumption to make) they are a good start-point to delve into the world of the Faith 5 and why Rich finds this important.
Here's one about the Faith 5
And here's one of him sharing about the importance of keeping the family together
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