Angela J Elliott

We have people in the congregation read the scripture before the sermon and that is one place people from all generations can participate. Youth also participate in choir and praise teams.

Hi, Sorry it took so long to get back to you. For scripture readers I simply compile an ongoing list of people of all ages who would like to read the scripture. Sometimes I try and find someone that matches the service, but mostly I just schedule according to whomever is available. It makes it more natural rather than focussing on age. The only criteria is that they can read well and that they use the NIV translation.

As a worship planning team we're reading the book "A Church For All Ages" which is helping us to understand and hopefully change how we do intergenerational worship.

We don't do anything specific with sermon outlines other than a general one. We have a large ESL group so we include the various scripture references. Other than that it's just the main points of the sermon with room for notes.

I like the idea of junior deacons. Can you tell me more about who they are and how they are selected?

I've never thought of creating a sacred place in my home or of using liturgical colours and the liturgical calendar. Like you I have many questions about how that might work in my home. I think any place where you can creatively show that this is a sacred space and where you can see it when you have your devotions would be a good thing. I sometimes write my prayers in a journal so that they form part of what I am thinking etc. When I went through a difficult time years back, I put the prayers and scriptures in a special journal so that I could easily recount them. Don't know if that helps or not.

Hello! Looking forward to another year on the Network.

I love this idea! I think we might just borrow it to use in 2021. Finding ways to connect the church, be Intergenerational and do Faith Formation work is proving difficult in this online world. So this is a wonderful idea. I am wondering what the Faith at Home Conversation Starters are and if you would mind sharing them also or sharing how you came up with them. 

Thank you again for your willingness to share this work. I pray that it will bless your church greatly.

I'm glad you are putting a tool kit together. Will one of the resources be what to do if women come forward to share their #metoo story? In one case a woman talked to an elder and said she had never shared the story before, not even with her husband. We've been at a bit of a loss how to help or if we should help.

We require a parent/guardian of 3 to 6 year olds to sign their children in and out. The parent who signs in, is the one who must pick the child up. Since our children actually go downstairs, a Children's Church teacher stands at the top of the stairs with the sign in sheets on a clip board for parents/guardians and visitors to sign their children in. At the end of the service, parents come downstairs and go to the classroom door to pick up their child and sign them out.

This sounds really exciting. Thank you for letting us know about this resource and Genon Ministries.

Yes we compost and recycle. As our garbage pick up is private and doesn't include composting, we have dedicated people who take it home and put it in the city's compost bins. That way, when we do use paper plates, cups and napkins, like at our Kick-Off Party, we can compost them along with the food. Plastic ware goes in the recycle. That way a big event ends up with little garbage.

We also have a recycling station in our church hallway with clearly labeled bins. These too are emptied and recycled by volunteers.

I encouraged you to look into this for your church.

I wish I had been mentored in how do Elder visits. It was simply left up to me to figure out and either didn't go very well a lot of the time or I simply avoided them. I also wish I had had more explicit instruction about how we set up for communion. Maybe a current or just retired Elder doing it with me the first time.