The Multigenerational Mission of the Church Family

By Bryan Chapell

Multigenerational Faith 

When our children were small and we were learning what it meant to raise eternal souls in little bodies to love Jesus, we needed the experience and wisdom of other Christian parents. We had little understanding of how precious, powerful, and necessary the care and example of so many others in the church would be.  

In the church, we were blessed to have peer parents who shared our doubts about our capabilities, more seasoned parents to advise and console us, and spiritual grandparents who showed our children unconditional love.  

The reason was not so much that we believed “it takes a village” to raise a child; we believed that it takes a church. 

This belief was driven by instruction in Scripture about how God works to preserve his church and transfer Christ’s love from one generation to the next. Understanding of Scripture’s patterns is important not only for our children’s spiritual nurture, but so that we will depend upon the designs of the Holy Spirit that work beyond our wisdom and weaknesses to create multiple generations of faith. 

Multigenerational Mission 

The reason that churches ought to celebrate faith that passes from one generation to the next should be obvious: Any church that does not become multigenerational dies. God requires churches to honor the contributions of legacy generations and to care for the needs of the present generation, but his Word also instructs us to “tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord” (Ps. 78:4). Disregarding the needs, contexts, and pressures of future generations is ultimately to sign the death warrant of a church.  

We do not need to guess how churches become multigenerational. The Bible carefully describes the patterns and practices that maintain the mission of God across generations. The principles are repeated in many passages. One key text is the first chapter of 2 Timothy, where the aging apostle Paul addresses what is probably the last letter of his ministry on earth to a young pastor named Timothy. How will Paul pass the baton of faith to a younger man? 

The Model of Paul and Timothy 

The apostle begins his instruction by identifying himself as the spiritual father of Timothy. He addresses Timothy as “my beloved child” (2 Tim. 1:2), and in doing so identifies his care with that of “God the Father” from whom we learn in this same verse come “grace, mercy, and peace.” Though he is not Timothy’s biological father, Paul uses fathering language to describe his spiritual responsibility to a young leader of the next generation in the church. 

Paul’s cross-generational care is not a new feature of church life. In this same passage, he says his own service to God is built on the foundation of the faithfulness of his “ancestors” (v. 3). Faith has been passed to him by other spiritual fathers in the ancient family of faith. In passing the principles of faith to Timothy, the apostle is following a pattern established long before either of these servants of God was in the church. 

A Community of Spiritual Parents 

Paul recognizes, however, that he is not solely responsible for nurturing the faith of Timothy—and that fathers are not the only ones responsible for spiritual parenting. He reminds Timothy that the faith that now dwells in the young pastor “dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well” (v. 5). Multiple generations of mothers have passed the message of God’s care to this child who now prepares future generations to honor the Lord. 

Many generations, genders, and leaders contribute to the multigenerational mission and ministry of the church. So, in this passage, Paul also encourages Timothy “to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (v. 6). That “gift of God” was the enabling of Timothy to pastor his church. The gift was confirmed by the church as hands were laid on Timothy to commission him for this ministry. But Paul’s hands were not the only ones laid on Timothy. We learn from Paul’s earlier letter to Timothy that the older apostle was only one of a “council of elders” that laid hands on the young man to set him apart for the church’s leadership (1 Tim. 4:14). 

There is a picture being drawn through the pattern of intergenerational faith detailed by the apostle in these letters. The picture is one of human figures and families being coordinated with instruction from God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 1:13–14) to create a church that will remain faithful to God’s purposes for many generations. The implied caption under that picture is clear: The continuous health of the church requires celebration of all generations for the preservation and propagation of the gospel.  

Passing on the Faith 

No single generation can do all the work of the church. For the church to remain strong and for the witness of Christ to remain powerful, each generation must consider what is necessary to pass faith to the next one. This is not always easy. Generational contexts, cultures, and preferences change. Unless a church makes the nurture of the next generation a high priority of its mission, the preferences and priorities of the dominant generation will limit that church’s witness to the lifespan of those presently in charge. 

For churches to continue to participate in the mission of the gospel that has been Christ’s priority since his Great Commission, we must seek to understand the peculiar pressures, differences, and contributions of each generation.  

When we learn enough about one another that we can celebrate the generations, then we will rejoice in the gifts God gives to each so that the gospel of Jesus Christ can be spread by all believers in all times and contexts.  

This article has been adapted from Bryan Chapell’s book The Multigenerational Church Crisis: Why We Don’t Understand Each Other and How to Unite in Mission, published by Baker Books. In it, he equips pastors and ministry leaders to understand generational differences, appreciate the experiences that shaped each generation, and unite them together in one mission. 

Bryan Chapell, PhD, is a pastor and author known for presenting the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. He is president of Unlimited Grace Media, daily broadcasting grace-filled messages in major US cities and streaming coursework for the training of future preachers in 1,500 cities across 90+ nations at BryanChapell.com.