Faith Works 1-29-22

Faith Works 1-29-22
Jeff Gill

Cross sections and cross country living
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65, 62, 34, 62, 70, 85.

That's the story of the Gill men from the first to arrive here from England in 1777 to my father as that last figure, in terms of how many years each lived.

6, 8, 2, 11, 6, 4 . . . 1.

And on my paternal side, that's the story of how many children each had. To be honest, 6 & 8 are guesses; my dad and I tried to pin down just how many were born to John & Margaret and then to James & Rachel, but between spotty records and broken tombstones, we're not sure.

The one who only made it to 34 was a Civil War soldier who died three years after the shooting stopped, but we believe in part because of the impact of his service, and so William & Elizabeth had only 2 children.

That concluding "1" is me, with one child. There's a whole narrative of America's demographic history in those sequences of ages and family size. In general, people are living longer; in general, families are getting smaller. And I could add one more illustrative sequence: Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Texas by way of Indiana. After leaving Leeds in West Yorkshire in 1777, the Gills were in the Keystone State for four generations, but then young Harry went west with the railroads and his six children began to scatter across the country after World War II, and you know where one of Ron's kids ended up.

All of which is to say: we've never done this before. If caring for increasingly elderly parents even as we're starting to feel the bite of aging ourselves, across state lines and time zones, with changes in how estates are set up and powers of attorney operate, seems challenging and unprecedented, it's because this set of circumstances is pretty much unique in human history. We're making it up as we go, hoping our children are taking notes because we barely have time to stop and take stock.

Yes, people have lived to 100 centuries ago — but not so many. Yes, memory loss has been problematic before in human history, but it tended to start earlier, back when turning 50 was considered getting old, and such issues lasted a shorter period of someone's life, because life expectancy was shorter. You may have heard it noted that the original age for Social Security at 65 was established in the 1930s because the average lifespan was 67.

As individuals and families are learning how to cope with situations that are, at scale, essentially new and unprecedented, so too have faith communities had to figure some things out from scratch. In terms of buildings, we've retrofitted with ramps and elevators, and new construction tends to emphasize grade level plans and wider doorways, but the challenges we're still sorting out have to do with worship and congregational culture and community.

Again, if it feels like we're into new territory, we really are. Having such a range of ages and experiences in the church family, along with the tensions of increased mobility and access, means a "typical" church looks very different than my grandfather's did in Anita, Iowa. Big families and generational stability have given way to more scattered and blended households, with new faces the norm rather than the exception.

What churches of all sorts still offer, for all the change we've had in our culture and communities, is the opportunity to have intergenerational experiences. Even newer contemporary worship oriented churches tend to attract at least a critical mass of older persons, and in whatever setting, the reality in our modern society is that it's incredibly easy for children to grow up not only without being around older people very much, they may well not even be around their own grandparents much. As we celebrate the new investment and employment coming to Licking County, it occurs to me that it will also mean hundreds and even thousands of people leaving family and roots behind elsewhere to come here, looking not only for work but also for a place to put down new roots.

Churches can and should and must be a place for putting down roots. Like a tree planted by the water. Jeremiah 17:8 tells us about our personal basic commitments, and how we need to find the right place, a location that promotes healthy growth in relationship to God. I believe we do better with that when we are surrounded by people from a variety of backgrounds, and that includes a diversity of ages.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's got one more installment on this theme in mind. Tell him about how you see intergenerational encounters as important for growth at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.