Having church services which distinctly cater for the needs of particular age groups is quite common in Australia. However, I suspect that this is actually doing more harm than good. Many churches have a system of having several services and distinguishing each with a particular demographic.
Although, splitting up demographic groups is not always intended, it tends to develop into this in practice. This often looks something like the following:
- An early morning traditional service (for older adults)
- A mid-morning family service (for parents and children)
- An evening service (for youth and young adults)
I would suggest that this is detrimental to the health-of-the-faith in most cases. I know some who would go so far as to say that this model is dishonoring towards God.
Christian Discipleship and Encouragement
I remember in my childhood having significant doubts about the faith. At that time, I could not see how aspects such as creation could be consistent with the scientific accounts of how life works. I had also struggled to see how I could trust God when I did not understand everything about Him.
However, I saw the faith of the older adults in the congregation. I knew that if an intelligent person with ninety-plus years of experience still trusted God then there must be substance to God’s claims.While I did not know it then, I am sure it was encouraging for the older members of the congregation to see that there would continue to be faithful Christians in the new generation.
Many of the relationships that lead to a growing robustness and maturity in the faith are between people of different ages. The wisdom of the elderly, and the inquisitiveness of the young are a good match for growth. Similarly, the energy of the youthful and the competency of the middle-aged are a good match for doing good deeds. However, I rarely see congregations in which all ages are emboldened to support one another, or even where all ages are present.
Causes for Division in Current Practice
It is regularly seen, at least in Australian society, that people prefer to meet with others who are like themselves. The theory that opposites attract in the case of most friendships does not appear to describe the reality. Churches feel the pressure to reach out to new people, not only to sustain the growth of the Church, but also from the belief that people must trust in Jesus to be saved.
If the Church fails to attract people, many, if not all people, will be damned – being in God’s wrath for eternity. Making services that have strong cohorts is often seen as important to make going to church appealing. Continuing from this, it looks like having similar people grouped will support church growth, though I do not think that this holds true.
I am aware of some people who choose to attend a particular church on the basis of having a service that ‘suits them’. Sometimes these are very shallow reason, and some may seem shallow to us, but still have some cause. For instance, many younger people choose one service over another precisely because the service is cool enough.
Often part of the justification for this style of thinking is that if the church isn’t cool enough for them, how can they bring their friends who aren’t committed Christians without portraying the Church as backward and irrelevant? They perceive that part of the function of the church (bringing people to faith in Jesus) would be undermined.
While I don’t claim to have good data about this, Church growth does not appear to have been significantly increased in the long-term by splitting into demographically distinct services. It seems to me that the many churches are contorting themselves in strange ways to appeal to the widest set of people, but it doesn’t seem right that this should be needed. God is already at work in the widest set of people and he has already given us guidance in what the church will look like.
Separating Ages Doesn’t Appear to be Normal Historically
God’s Church is shown in the bible to be one that incorporates his people of many ages and backgrounds. The vision of the Church in The Revelation to John shows a very diverse people praising God. Additionally, although plagued by problems managing the fact, the early Church was diverse in ages, as well as other demographic factors.
It is often the stance of Christians to emulate aspects of the Early Church. The proximity to the original events of Jesus’ teaching, death and resurrection and the presence of the Apostles (with authority from Jesus), suggests that the Early Church would have had a better understanding than us about how church ought to be done.
We have access to the Scriptures and many centuries of Church thinking about these matters. I do not think church history or the bible support specialising services to cater to specific age groups. Having ageist-nessbuilt-in to services seems strange, though having problems arising from disputes between ages has probably been common.
God Claims to be Working in Ways that Achieve what we Hope for in Separate Services
It is important to remember that God claims to be at work saving people. Not all conversions are as Saul-Paul’s was, however the Holy Spirit is opening people’s eyes to the truth and God is regularly revealing himself to people through evangelists and the Scriptures (even without counting ‘more miraculous’ conversions).
Likewise, and by the same Spirit, God is at work maturing us in the faith. He does this through the Scriptures and other believers (again even without counting ‘more miraculous’ growth). If we reflect the glory of God well, it seems in character with God that he will help those arounds us too see that, and in his mercy, they may believe.
I am not sure how strongly we are obligated to change our practices, but we need to give thought to these matters sooner rather than later. If the Church is failing to build the faith of those who believe, and failing to reach those in our society, there are very significant consequences for those born in our times. May God help us all as we grapple with these things.
Alexander Gillespie is an Arts Honours graduate of the University of Sydney. Particular fields of interest include Nineteenth-Century migration history, conceptual philosophy, social policy and ecclesiology. He currently lives in Sydney with his wife and enjoys researching and writing.