Holy Playground

As many of you know, Hope Lutheran has also been part of the Holy Playground initiative for the past year.

We've had some wonderful opportunities to try grant-funded experiments, and we've learned a lot.

We've also watched our congregation slowly grab onto this idea of intergenerational ministry.

Hope was already doing many of these things really well. But now we're starting to see it become more of a reflex. Instead of asking, “How do we create something for this age group?” we're also starting to ask, “How could different generations experience this together?” Our Summer Blowout Grant gave us a chance to experiment with that.

One thing we discovered was the value of naturally occurring intergenerational relationships. We didn't necessarily need to create another program or event. Sometimes we simply needed to create an environment where people naturally interacted.

Music was a great example. Hope is a very music-led church, so we purchased some unique instruments that were unfamiliar to almost everyone. That was intentional. When the five-year-old and the seventy-five-year-old both look at an instrument and think, “I have no idea how this works,” suddenly the playing field is level. They can explore it, experiment, laugh and learn side by side.

We also purchased faith-based and biblically inspired games and fidgets for Sunday morning fellowship time. These aren't structured activities. We simply put them on the tables and allow people to engage if they want to. Because it's pretty hard to walk past something interesting sitting on a table without eventually picking it up! And something really neat happens when kids recognize a game or fidget. They become the teachers.

An adult asks, “What does this do?” And suddenly a child has the opportunity to say, “Here, I'll show you.” Again, we're creating opportunities for relationships to happen naturally rather than forcing them.

We also purchased three bar-height tables for the Narthex. That might not sound like a faith-formation experiment, but it actually was. Not everyone enjoys sitting in the Fellowship Hall. Sometimes chairs, tables, noise and lots of people can make that space feel overwhelming or even a little trapping. And parents often need to be able to move quickly because they're chasing kids! These tables give people somewhere to put down their coffee or belongings, stand and visit, and still have the freedom to move.

It's another way of saying: You don't have to participate in community in one specific way to belong to it. All of these experiments have helped lead us into our next step.

Applications are now open for a larger Holy Playground grant focused on intentionally growing relationships and faith formation. And we're calling our proposal:

Faith Where Life Happens

Jesus tells us in Luke:  “Take up your cross daily and follow me.” That word daily has really become the heart of this idea. Because we're not trying to add more things to everyone's already busy schedules.

Instead, we're asking:  How can we practice faith where life is already happening? And how can we do that together? One of our ideas is a Devotional Challenge.

Starting Sunday, October 4, you'll find several different kinds of devotionals in the Narthex. Pick one and try to use it at least three times a week. But here's the important part: Do it with somebody. Maybe that's your family around the dinner table. Your spouse. Your coffee group. Coworkers. Your team before practice. Friends. Grandparents and grandchildren.

It doesn't really matter who your people are. The goal isn't to create another meeting. It's to take something you're already doing and invite faith into it. A few minutes. Three times a week. With people already in your life.

We're also exploring digital communication boards throughout our common spaces. They'll help us share what's happening at Hope and HopeCare, but we also want to use them to help build community.

Imagine seeing: “Emma — Soccer, Saturday at 10.” And somebody from church thinking: “I'm free Saturday morning. I could go watch.” Sometimes faith formation looks like a child looking into the crowd and recognizing someone from church who showed up simply because they care about them.

We're also continuing to explore intergenerational music ministry. Marilyn has been an incredible partner in this. Instead of spotlighting children or asking them to perform for the congregation, we're looking for opportunities for children and adults to participate in worship together. We want our kids growing up knowing: “This is my church. I belong here. I have a place in worship.”

We're also looking at adding different Bibles and faith resources to our pews and worship spaces.

Traditional Bibles.
Children's Bibles.
Illustrated Bibles.
Different translations and resources for different learning styles.
And they're not just for kids.
Pick one up.
Look through it together.

Ask a child, “What do you notice?” You might be surprised by what they teach you.

We'll also be exploring opportunities for women and men to gather around faith and fellowship in ways that feel natural and accessible. All of these ideas might seem very different — devotionals, digital boards, music, Bibles, fellowship groups — but they're connected by one simple idea:

Faith where life happens.

Faith formation doesn't only happen in Sunday School. It doesn't only happen when someone stands at the front of a classroom and teaches. It happens around the dinner table. In the car. At a soccer game. Over coffee. While making music. While playing a game. While asking questions.

And simply by showing up for one another. We're not asking everyone to participate in everything. We're asking everyone to participate in something.

Choose the devotional. Share your family's calendar. Show up for someone else's kid. Try a different Bible. Make music together. Join a group. Invite someone to the table.

A grant can help us purchase Bibles, instruments, technology, tables and resources. But those things aren't the ministry. You are.

The relationships we build with one another are what turn those resources into ministry. So as Jesus calls us to “take up your cross daily and follow me,” we're going to keep discovering together what it means to follow Jesus daily —

in the sanctuary, around our tables, and everywhere life takes us. I especially like that the bar-height tables → “you don't have to participate in community in one specific way to belong to it” → Faith Where Life Happens transition now gives the grant ideas a reason behind them, instead of sounding like a list of things you want to buy.