Speakers

Getting to Grips with Intergenerational Church

Gareth Crispin, Youth, Children and Families' Minister, St John's Church, Lindow

Starting at the beginning, Gareth navigates us through the theology of what intergenerational church means.  This session stretches our knowledge and develops our understanding, making the case for bringing different generations together.

Gareth Crispin is the Youth, Children & Families Minister for an Anglican church in Wilmslow, Cheshire. He is studying part time for a PhD in Family Ministry and Intergenerational Church at Cliff College and acts as one for the adjunct lecturers on Cliff Colleges' new BA Course in Family Ministry and Mission. He is also co-author of Together with God - An Introduction to Family Worship.

Becoming a Blended Church

Eleanor Bird, Head of Children's and Youth Work, St Chad's Church, Romiley

Elle shares her perspective on how a church family can fully function as the multi-generation 'Blended' Body of Christ that God made it to be. Her heart is to help us to start to think through how we can change our approach to church life, in order to build a family that lives, serves and worships together.

Elle is Head of Children and Youth Work at St Chad's, Romiley, in Greater Manchester, overseeing all ministries with 2 to 19 year olds. She has been involved in children's work since she was 12 and in full-time ministry since the age of 21, leading children's venues at New Wine and running workshops and seminars for leaders across the UK.

Healthy Togetherness - Best Practice in Intergenerational Worship 

Martyn Payne, Messy Church Team Member

Intergenerational worship is a journey into trying to find out what it means truly to be a church for everyone. It has led some stepping outside the Sunday box with its expectations to try things like Messy Church and other fresh expressions of church, experimenting with a new format and new opportunities to break down the silos between the generations.

This session offers insights into what makes for good Intergenerational Church and perhaps can be benchmarks against which you test your evaluation of what you hear and observe in your own church situation. 

Based in east London, Martyn Payne has worked with The Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF) in a number of roles over the past 13 years. Formerly he taught languages and RE for 18 years at secondary level and then for 8 years worked in churches and primary schools across the country as the Children's Education Officer for a large Anglican mission society before joining the Barnabas Schools and Churches Team of BRF. Now Martyn is part of the BRF Messy Church Team, visiting Messy Churches nationally both to listen to stories and offer encouragement and professional consultation on the development of this new, missional form of church for all ages.

Martyn has produced a wide range of materials for churches and primary schools, as well as articles and worship material for RE Today, Together with Childrenand Rootsmagazines. He has written several books for BRF including Footsteps to the Feast, A-Cross the World, Bethlehem Carols Unpacked, Where in the World?, The People's Bible and The Big Story.