From Generation to Generation

This blog post was written by Dr. Miller of Wesley United Methodist Church, about the impact a grant from the Center can have on a congregation. In this post, you’ll learn about the Formative Power grant – read about Formative Power in our book on the subject, written in collaboration with Rev. Dr. Christina J. Davis of Christian Theological Seminary. To learn more about our grants, click here.

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As part of the Formative Power Grant from Center for Congregations, we here at Wesley United Methodist Church, Jeffersonville, Indiana labelled its focus “From Generation to Generation.” This was to challenge, support, and encourage each member to grow in their faith maturity. Several life arenas were centered around “congregational growth.” Wesley being 157 years old, defined congregation growth as a process of becoming a stronger and more vibrant people in its spiritual, communal, and missional lives. The project was brilliant!

There are seven generations in our congregation. And each generation was to look away from self-preservation and look more towards bringing a transformative presence in their lives and the lives of others. To ensure congregational growth, we divided into six generational age groups. The life arena for grades one through five was to shower our Super Seniors with some genuine “love.” They put a smile on their faces by giving them T-Shirts for Christmas.

The Super Seniors, age 55 and older, serve churches throughout the community. In this process, their membership grew from 35 to over 50+. Its life arena encouraged seniors to focus more on themselves with “wellness check” seminars: Wills & Trust, Banking, Medical Issues and Technology. They meet monthly to share good food and fun – games and gifts.

Another life arena was among the men and women. This generation hosted several events that included breakfast or lunch. Each gathering had guest speakers who focused on Mental Health, Physical Health, Spiritual Formation, and the Book, “Body, Mind & Soul.” Each event was open to the public. And over 250+ lives were touched, with some returning for worship.

Our youth leaders partnered with Community Action of Southern Indiana to host a Youth Camp & Retreat at Sterling Heights Retreat Center. This three-day event was opened to the community. Many of our youth were inspired to become more active in the church.

The children partnered with a music arts camp that was sponsored by another church. This music camp exploded, putting them on “fire,” to play instruments, to sing, and to speak in the Sunday worship experience. Several children have taken the initiative to start various other ministries within the church: Acolytes, Liturgical Dance Ministry, and Junior Ushers.

During Advent, we invited the five largest families to light the Advent Candles, and did they show up! Several of the members returned to attending church on a regular basis. And for Black History Month, we were really inspired when those same five families presented their “family’s history” as it related to the church. Each presentation was extremely informative and transformative. Our church attendance doubled every week in December!

These are a few examples of how the grant made a difference in our congregational growth. It created a high level of excitement – right off the bat! People who participated – provided direct input – to the proposed outcome of each event. It made a strong and unique transformative presence in our lives. It became contagious – even with the choir!