Intergenerational Worship

The idea of intergenerational worship is new to me. Having grown up in a church with a great kids ministry--having helped with that ministry for years...I have my doubts. Yet it is intriguing to me. There is something very...good about the idea of keeping families together to explore the Way. But how can ideas be communicated in a way so as to be appropriate for such a broad age range? How are behavioral issues addressed?
Emerging Parents offers some great thoughts. One person insightfully commented....

We could point out the fact that Sunday schools (in the UK) were a 19th Century invention, and that they were always separate from the main worship event, normally taking place on a Sunday afternoon. It’s only since perhaps the 1920s that the Sunday School class has taken place at the same time as Sunday morning adult worship. And yet our churches are unquestioningly locked into this pattern of doing church that is less than 100 years old.

We cannot be a whole community unless children play a full part, nor can children develop in their discipleship unless they participate and belong in a meaningful way to a community of people of all ages committed to one another on the pilgrim journey.

So we should stop asking “‘How can we keep the children from disturbing us as we worship in ways that are dear to us?’ but rather, ‘How can we invite children into real involvement with our worship of God?' 'What is the essence of our worship and what is merely adult habit and prejudice?' 'How can we make the whole liturgy accessible to children without losing the adults?’ ‘How can we help our children truly to take part in the whole liturgy, word and sacrament, not separately but with us?’ ‘How can we preach the Word so that all can hear it?’”

These are such great questions. I'd like to take them one at a time....really dig around for answers. Good answers to these questions, effectively implemented, would revolutionize the way we "do" church.