PROPOSAL

“THE LIVING ROOM”

Becoming an intentional community whose goal is to reach, strengthen and keep life-long
followers of Christ from the Nursery to the elderly through sharing our lives and faith with
each other.
I. Reasoning for this Preposal
II. Objectives
III. Action Steps
IV. Diagrams
I. REASON FOR THIS PREPOSAL
After twenty two years of ministry continue to ask the same
question every minister, church leader and Godly parent considers;
“how do we make life long followers of Christ when they come under
our care from kids church to college?” Most leaders would agree, there
is no magical formula or program. In one sence the keeping power of
Christ is a Mystery. On the other hand we must be intentional to meet
the task of making disciples. The question is what intentional steps can
increase our success? In other words how can we pass our faith to the
next generation without fumbling it?
Places like The Fuller Youth Institute, Center for Parent and Youth
Understanding The Youth Transition Network and The Princeton Youth
Institute have devoted millions of dollars and tens of thousands of
hours to dialog on those question. Here is what they are finding.
1. 40-50% of all students who graduate from church graduate
from their faith.
2. 50% of those who abandon their faith do it permenanlty.
3. In other words of the 210 students 82-105 students that fall
away after high school, 52 who will never return to Christ
again.
4. 70% of students doubt their faith.
5. 2/3 of students do not feel they have been given a faith strong
enough to survive college.
The analysis of this data pushed the organizations to evaluate
“what increases the strength and depth of faith in the lives of those
growing under our care in the church? Although they would say “None
of these items would be a magical process” they would insiste the
following are keys to increase the abiltiy to pass a faith in the live of our
kids that makes them life long followers of Christ.
 1. Moving from communicating Christianity to our kids as a
code of do’s and don’t to a genuine gospel of grace. In
other words letting church be a safe place to confess.
2. Multi Generational church communities where all age
groups touch the lives of one another with intentionality
and care.
3. Families that learn not to be “more spiritual” but learn to
pass what spirituality we have.
4. Multi Generational service projects together
5. Families that learn to look for God in daily life. Rather than
asking kids “What did you learn in church today?” they ask
questions like “where did you see God at work today? Or
“Where did you fail or come short today? Such questions
keep them looking for God in the ordinary and cultivating a
comfortable environment for confession.
6. A shift from partents seeing the church as responsible for
the spiritual formation of their children or the church
seeing the families as repsonsible to both working in
partnership together.

II. Objectives
1. To create online resources and church wide awareness
awareness on how to deepen the faith of those we are
developing.
2. To equip families with tools and resources to make big
differneces in small wasy for the spiritual formation of those
growing up in the community of our church family.
3. To weave a common unity among the church leaders and
ministries to conduct ministry structures with the intentionality
of multi-generational ministry.
 4. To unify the church with a purpose of sharing the responsibilty
of creating a solid faith in our children and youth that goes far
beyond the youth and children ministry pastors and
departments.

III. Action Steps

1. Create an online presence
o Web Site:
 Have a “Seat” approach. A place for you in the living
room regardless of what age or stage of life your at
 Kid, Teen, Young Adult
 Parent, Midlife Crisis Elderly
 Video Clips:
 Brief introduction of ideas to learn from and
implement in our lives.
 Testimonies and stories of encouragement
o Sample discussion on helping people
understanding grace.
www.fulleryouthinstitute.org click on main
video “Grace”
o Sample of some things blue fist TV Does
when focusing on the struggles of
adolecents like eating disorders.
http://www.bluefishtv.com/Store/Downloa
dable_Video_Illustrations/1411/The_Guilt_
of_Bulimia/f=s2b&scid=1005&cc=&csc=110
3&ldr=&s=
o Sample of Young Adults reflecting on their
faith Crash at college. See the Youth
transition network in their video room
under the video “Be Prepared” (Short
version).
 http://videoroom.youthtransitionnetwork.o
rg/
 Discussion Forum where we can toss out concepts for
discussion, interact with images, ideas and ideals.
 Sample of a forum from a tutorial of one being
made for me.
http://natedesignsstuff.com/contact/MyMovie.m
p4
 Blog: Where people who have experties and average
experience can be recruited to post brief discussions
for peole to read be encouraged
 Podcasts: brief hist of audio for families
 Online Organizations with more information

2. Schedule Multi-Generational interactions: (Going further and

deeper than we already are.
o Family Retreat
o Multi-generational Service
o Breakfast service with panel discussion
o Community service together
 Visiting shut ins
 Feeding homeless together
 Cleaning a neighborhood
 Helping home or chor work for struggling people
o Missions Trip Together
 An intentionally planned Multi-Generational Missions
trip with families both local, in the USA and in a foreign
country planned with the right conditions.
3. Evaluate and Expand
o Develop a multi-generational committee to meet quarterly
and evaluate and prune the efforts.
o Time set aside in PIL or Staff meeting to discuss and explore
multi-generational intentional expressions of our minsitry
efforts.
o Consider budget options for this expression of a church shift.
o Explore a Quarterly all generational service.
o Activate the Elderly for purpose by investing care in the
youth and children of our church.
o Send several staff members to multi-generational
conferences and meetings to educate and empower
understanding in the ethos of this enhancement to church
ministry.
o Consider the creation of a “Family Pastor” if the ministry
merits it.
 CHURCH GENERATIONAL NETWORK IN PEOPLE & MINISTRY

Parents
and Adults

PIL Leaders
and Pastoral Staff
Ministries

The Living
Elderly Children
Room

Youth Childrens
Ministry Ministry

Youth and
Young Adults
 Sample Construction for “The Living Room” Website

• Pre selected
•Web Site Links contributors for the year
•Opportunity posts
Resources Blog

Discussion
Videos • Testimoneis
Board Encouragemt
•Online discussion
•Reflection Forum • Instruction and Advice
Growing Activities