Intergenerational play at Playford

Posted Jul 26, 2016 in Family

Mike Wardrop attended Playford Uniting Church’s third annual family camp in Ankara in May this year. In this article, he writes about the significance of events like this in the mission of the church and intergenerational ministry.

Family camps are a church tradition that have begun to fall out of fashion over the last 10 years – due, I’m sure, to cost and scheduling difficulties as much as desire. But Playford Uniting Church has recognised the positive impact their family camp has had on their community. Having now been held three times, this event has been deliberately prioritised in by the church congregation.

The Playford family camp is one way in which their community helps to equip families and encourage all-age participation in the life of the church. While some activities of the camp are age-specific, people of all ages are involved in the worship services, meals and recreation – an example of truly intergenerational gathering and ministry.

The quiz night held at the most recent family camp was a specific example of intentionally intergenerational community. Tables were organised by lining people up by age and numbering them off, ensuring the tables included people of all ages. The questions were designed the same way, requiring knowledge about a variety of decades and thus requiring participation from all group members. This provided opportunities for older members to learn from and alongside younger members – and vice versa.

Playford is a growing community who have made a commitment to engage with what being an intergenerational congregation means. The family camp is just one way of exploring and engaging in this area.

There will always be elements of camps enjoyed more by some personalities and ages than others. But Playford’s family camp provided opportunities for people to engage with one another in many different ways, trying new things and forging connections between generations. Older and younger people joined together by playing ultimate Frisbee, enjoying water sports and toasting marshmallows.

When a diverse group of people engages in these kinds of activities across generations, it becomes much easier to look at the bigger sense of what Christ is calling his church to be.

The Uniting Church SA Intergen Team is always looking for stories from congregations engaging across generations or in ways that help young people become life-long disciples of Christ. To share your church’s story, please email the Intergen Team at Turn on Javascript!

Photo courtesy of the Playford Uniting Church Facebook page.

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