Halswell Community Church in Christchurch is intergenerational in both makeup and nature, with people of many different ages gathering each week to worship God together.
Pastor Mato Kariuki says that recently a number of young families have begun attending, expressing a desire to study God’s Word and grow in Christ.
“We noticed that many of our older people are more mature Christians, and without young children around they have time to do Bible study. Many of our young families have come back to church since having children, or have been Christians but never really thought through how to raise and disciple children in the faith, or how to grow in Christ themselves.”
The Halswell Community Church whānau began thinking about ways they could nurture faith in these young families, says Mato.
“For our young families who are wanting to grow as Christian parents, it has not been about telling them what to do but coming alongside as a team to do this together.”
At this stage of life, with children under 11, it can be hard for families to find space to focus on opening the Bible.
“We found that this stage of life made it next to impossible for some people to sit and open the Bible themselves, and then they’re struggling with the lack of time and energy on top of that. So how do you grow when these are your needs?”
HCC began hosting young family hangouts, says Mato, and these gatherings helped grow people’s desire to spend time in God’s Word together.
“Once a month on a Sunday afternoon we’d get together, bring food, catch up, and try to do some sort of study while the kids were outside. And that worked for a bit, but there were too many of us in one room. We had to split the group, but even then it often ended up being a bit chaotic with no real Bible study.”
So this year they’ve decided to try something different.
“We will keep hosting hangouts, with a focus on just being together, and make time for separate parents’ groups—an evening group and a daytime group—with a good 1–2.5 hour session where we open the Bible together and dive deep into God’s Word. Young families can pick whichever one works, or take turns attending each week as parents.”
“This is something that we’ve started on their request. They kept coming and asking us, ‘Is there a Bible study? Is there a Bible study?’”
“We’re also hoping to run an Alpha Course at some point soon. As I talk to many who are new to faith I realise that they need grounding in the basics—you know, what does it look like to read Scripture? This is where we understand who Jesus is and what it looks like to follow him.”
Mato says they have also been encouraging people to read the Bible together across generations.
“We have a number of older people who have the desire to be helpful, but are held back by feeling that they are not good enough, or that they can’t do it. So it has been a case of saying, ‘Can we push you a bit more to go out there and do it?’—to read the Bible with others who might be in a different phase of life, to open Scripture with someone, to read together. That’s it—we’re using Scripture as the base here.”
Mato says a growing number of people are now meeting one-to-one with others to read the Bible together.
