Fresh Ideas for Sharing God’s Story with Intergenerational Small Groups

Looking for an easy way to enter into God’s story with a mixed age group that includes young children? Wondering how to introduce Bible stories to people for whom English is a new language? Consider taking a page from the innovative ways these groups have been using the newly revised God Loves Me books:

• An intergenerational small group made up of people from a local church and people who have recently arrived in Canada as refugees meets in a family home each week for shared potluck dinners and to form life transforming friendships. Wanting to introduce the participants—who range in age from 5 months to 50 and who understand varying levels of English—to God’s story, the leaders turned to their collection of God Loves Me books. The bright illustrations and easy-to-read text make the books accessible to all generations and to those with different English speaking abilities. The simple words are also easily turned into interactive stories which can be acted out or for which the participants can provide sound effects.
• In a town nearby, a missional group made up of neighborhood families who gather together to eat a meal and to share their lives has also been using the books as part of their dinnertime devotions. Reading the opening line in each book—“This is a story from God’s book, the Bible. It’s for say the name(s) of your child(ren). It’s for me too”—serves as a simple reminder that God’s story includes everyone; the closing wondering question and prayer invites listeners to enter into conversation with God in a non-threatening way.
• We’ve also heard of a mid-week program in which school aged children are using the God Loves Me books as story scripts and acting them out together.    

We love hearing about the ways in which lives are being transformed and relationships are being developed in the sharing of God's stories. How about you? How does your intergenerational group tell God's story together?