BREEN MARIE SIPES
Pastor Breen Marie Sipes is an ELCA Lutheran pastor, a full-time parent, and an all-time advocate for intergenerational ministry. She is the author of the chapters “Let the Spirit Lead: A Framework for Beginning and Sustaining Intergenerational Faith Formation” in the book All Ages Becoming and “Intergenerational Worship Leadership: The Work of ALL People” in Imagining All Generations. She presents workshops on intergenerational leadership, worship, music, and faith formation. She is the board president and a facilitator for Music that Makes Community and on the leadership team for Virginia Theological Seminary’s Roots & Wings Intergenerational Worship Initiative as a content developer and facilitator for their cohort of fellows. She lives in North Platte, Nebraska with her husband Patrick (also a pastor), three amazing daughters, one geriatric cat, and one Nebraska farm dog. She enjoys making music, swimming, biking, crafting, and supporting her girls in their many passions.
A FAVORITE INTERGENERATIONAL MEMORY/EXPERIENCE: My favorite intergenerational experience from the past year was at our intergenerational Vacation Bible School. Everyone, no matter their age or stage, felt welcomed, included, and needed as we learned together. The best example of that came through our deepening prayer time throughout the week. We sang "Come, Bring Your Burdens to God" with gestures, and then asked people to share their burdens. After each burden, we affirmed that prayer by singing again. At first, it was only kids, and only those kids that had been to Sunday School with us before and knew the routine. By the end of the week, people of every age and stage were sharing their burdens, large and small, momentary and momentous. The thing that really got me was that the group never tired of singing the song in affirmation; the prayers of the individuals became the prayers of the community!
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE INTERGENERATIONAL MINISTRY IS VITAL TO THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH? I believe that intergenerational ministry is vital to the life of the church because we, as the body of Christ, are more than the sum of our parts. Each generation, each age and stage, brings a myriad of different skills, passions, and questions. When we deeply listen to one another and open our hearts to learn from one another, we are able to listen to the Spirit's movement in our lives and begin to follow God more closely in community with one another.