"Some of us experienced World War II in the trenches, and others experienced it by playing Call of Duty on our Xbox."

Mollie Ziegler Hemingway doesn't attend a church that targets a single generation.  She tells us why:

Each of us learns and benefits from caring for the old, the sick, the suffering, and the dying, just as we benefit from the vitality that children, teens, and young adults bring. We all have vastly different experiences in life. By existing together in one community, we all benefit. Some of us experienced World War II in the trenches, and others experienced it by playing Call of Duty on our Xbox.

My dearest friend at my Lutheran church is a widow in her 70s. We became close after her beloved husband died following an extended battle with cancer. From Dolores I have learned how to sacrifice for one's spouse, enjoy life to the fullest, help neighbors in need, and raise children. If I were to attend a congregation where everyone was roughly my age and at my station in life, how would I learn these valuable lessons in Christian living?

Hillcrest is multigenerational, a source of our greatest strength--and a source of our greatest challenges. But its not just from a default reality: we are consciously, deliberately figuring out how to make congregational life work for all age ranges.