Barna
Church
Generations

Feb 4, 2025

Empowering Older Adults: Building Intergenerational Connections in the Church

The Church is well positioned to bring younger and older generations together. But according to Aging Well, Barna’s 2023 study of the needs of older adults created in partnership with Worship Anew, just 19 percent of Christians say their church provides opportunities for cross-generational interaction.

It’s likely this gap is, in part, a result of well-intentioned leaders who assume certain age groups would rather stick together. But relationships between people of different generations are naturally happening—and proving beneficial. Data from Aging Well reveals that more than three-quarters of adults ages 55+ (77%) say they have a close relationship with someone from a younger generation.

Creating a strong intergenerational ministry—something we report more deeply on in a recent State of the Church release—requires intentionality and an understanding of generational differences. For insights on how churches can help foster cross-generational relationships, we turned to Wes and Judy Wick, founders and directors of the parachurch ministry YES! Young Enough to Serve. The Wicks are focused on leveraging the serving potential of adults over 55 while intentionally engaging younger adults with them in this quest.

Editor’s note: You can learn more about current intergenerational discipleship trends here on Barna.com or in our full-length exclusive release inside Barna Access Plus

If you’re interested in reading the full Q&A from Wes & Judy Wick, you can do so by purchasing a copy of Aging Well or subscribing to Barna Access Plus where the digital report is housed. 

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Q: Based on your experience, what have you seen intergenerational ministry do for the livelihood of a church? What are some of the Kingdom benefits to being intentional in this area? 

A: Through our ministry, YES! Young Enough to Serve, we’ve led teams where just older adults are present, and we’ve also led teams where multiple generations serve and consistently interact with one another. While all of these trips are meaningful, the intergenerational dynamic adds so much. Working side-by-side, the young engage in conversation with mature Christian adults. Missional, hard-working hearts are nurtured, and positive cross-generational relationships emerge.

Intergenerational leadership is also extremely helpful. One [older] adult leader we mentored was pleased to share that most of her volunteers were in their twenties. These relationships had a palpable ripple effect in her church and community.

Being sincerely valued by the whole church brings personal affirmation to a new level of wholesomeness. Certainly, it yields a Kingdom win, a healthier and more unified church and broader disciple-making opportunities.

Q: As young people age, they’re more likely to feel older generations could offer them guidance. What does this reveal about the value of cross-generational relationships? How might these relationships show up in faith community?

A: As we grow older, we long for our experience accumulation to be valued, a hope realized in most non-Western cultures. Here in America, generationally interdependent attitudes may take longer to germinate. Yet the Apostle Paul stresses that the body of Christ, by definition, operates best interdependently. Collaboration, not competition.

A good starting point is realizing how much we need those at the opposite end of the age spectrum, not how much they need us, even though both are true. Cross-generational relationships are healthiest when we value each other. We can grow so much through these relationships.

Corralling people by age group is a common starting point in churches, but in the end we’re better together. Ideally, church leaders would recognize the need for broader interaction and intentionally create opportunities where these intergenerational relationships can become more common.

This is an excerpt from a full-length profile in this month’s State of the Church release, which can be found exclusively in Barna Access Plus

About Barna

Since 1984, Barna Group has conducted more than two million interviews over the course of thousands of studies and has become a go-to source for insights about faith, culture, leadership, vocation and generations. Barna is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization.

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