This Young Church Project
This Young Church Project is a dedicated year of discernment for churches who are wondering and praying about how to center themselves more around children and youth, especially in worship spaces. This year's cohort includes: St. Mark's Church in Portland with Rev. Jessica Wachter, Calvary Church in Columbia with Rev Ann Dieterle, and Hope Church in Town and Country with Rev. Jared Moore. The mentors from these projects are two experienced ministers: Rev. Carrol Davenport (whose church, Trinity Church in Kirksville, went through the pilot year of This Young Church Project last year) and Brett Rutledge, who leads Children's Chapel at the Church of St. Michael and St. George.
Each church has a team who will train throughout the year, and make small holy changes in order to become more welcoming to a younger generation. Our content around intergenerational worship will come from expert practitioner, Sarah Bentley Allred, as she provides us with teaching from the "Roots and Wings" project, funded by a Lilly Grant. (https://vts.edu/resource/
The year will consist of two in-person gatherings, two virtual gatherings, and three visits from leader Rev. Erin Pickersgill and mentors. We can't wait to see how this intentional work around intergenerational worship allows our churches to grow more and more into the likeness of children!
**The application process will be open in Spring 2026. Please contact Rev. Erin Pickersgill (epickersgill@diocesemo.org) if you would like to be invited to apply for the 2026-2027 cohort of This Young Church Project.
This Young Church Project 2026 Applications Now Open
“This Young Church Project” (TYCP) has been an initiative developed and run by myself, Rev. Erin Pickersgill, for two years. The supportive parish program organically grew out of the questions arising from individual communities. Past and current participating parishes are St. Francis, Eureka; Trinity, Kirksville; St. John’s, Tower Grove; St. Mark’s, Portland; and Hope, Town and Country.
Most parishes in our Diocese, with few exceptions, are wondering how to attract more young families through their doors, what to do with the young people when they attend worship, and how to grow young people in their faith.
With research, community, and prayerful intuition, I discovered that the answer to most of these questions was that we must get particularly skilled at and comfortable with Intergenerational Worship. This is a fancy way of saying that when we gather together as a community to worship Jesus, we must assume that all people present are there to participate, and that when they participate, the full work of the liturgy happens. Intergenerational worship means something different than “several generations are here in the room together.” The significance comes when we realize our need for the other in our worship.
There is profound academic work and research being done on this topic now. As we lean into this kind of ethos, we are at the forefront of what is happening across the Episcopal church - which means, it will often feel a little messy or awkward or like throwing spaghetti at the wall.
But in the midst of our work, small and important changes are taking place. Youth are finding their voice and value. Older folks are paying attention to how to welcome young families. Clergy feel moved by the all-age efforts to participate in worship. Parents with young children know that they can be themselves.
The changes that are happening mean that we are learning how to be, and how to be made into, the Body of Christ. We are practicing our faith and generosity towards others and others’ needs INSIDE our walls, so that we excel at this from Monday - Saturday.
The majority of the teaching content for This Young Church Project is from Sarah Bentley Allred’s work as Project Director for Roots & Wings: Intergenerational Formation Collaborative through Lifelong Learning at Virginia Seminary. She and I have been collaborating in order to create a hands on learning experience for clergy and lay people alike. The main structure of the content is to explore the five hallmarks of intergenerational worship: intentionality, relationality, dignified reciprocity, flexibility, and empowerment.
If your community is interested in being in the TYCP 2026 - 2027 cohort, please contact Erin Pickersgill by clicking below! Applications are now open.