Journal: Journal of Discipleship and Family Ministry
Volume: JDFM 03:2 (Spring 2013)
Article: Equipping The Generations: Intergenerational Ministry: Grandparents as Disciple Makers
Author: Aaron Williams

JDFM 3:2 (Spring 2013) p. 90

Equipping The Generations:
Intergenerational Ministry: Grandparents as Disciple Makers

Aaron Williams

Aaron Williams (Th.M., Dallas Theological Seminary) and his wife, Michelle, live in Seattle, Washington, where he serves as pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. A native of Augusta, Georgia, where he was raised primarily by his grandparents, Reverend Williams is committed to bridging the generation gap that exists between seniors and young adults, thereby cultivating an intergenerational ministry within the church.

As I look back over my life, I can see God’s hand preparing me to minister to seniors. I can also see how God used many seniors to minister to me in my formative years.

My Grandparents, The Prayer Warriors

My grandparents played a vital role in leading me to Jesus Christ. I don’t think they knew they were discipling me, but that’s exactly what God was doing through them. They were both prayer warriors, and I had prayer with them every Sunday morning before we ate breakfast and went to church. We would close family devotions by quoting Scripture. I remember my grandmother quoting Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

My grandparents had a profound impact on my life and how I view ministry as intergenerational. Embracing age diversity is the very core of my ministry. I learned from my grandparents that discipleship is a way of life. It’s not just something we do at church; it makes up the fabric of who we are and what we intentionally do in relationship with each another. They have both gone to be with the Lord now, but I take the lessons they have taught me everywhere I go.

I grew up in an environment where words such as “discipleship,” “mentoring,” and “spiritual formation” were foreign. But the Spirit of God was still at work.

During my early years as a youth pastor I was discipled by the elderly Reverend Nathaniel Irvin, who took me under his ministerial wing and modeled what a godly pastor is like. I went everywhere with him—to visit the sick, to conventions, funerals, and weddings. I watched him minister to a whole community and not just his congregation. I sat at his feet for ten years before I went to seminary. And I learned from him that authentic ministry is intergenerational. He taught me that the church is at its best when the young and the old are integrated throughout the life of the congregation.

Connecting Old And Young

Seniors must remember what it was like to be young, and the young must re...