Sharing the Inheritance Generation to GenerationBy Sonjia Gavin

A bridge between generations was built this year when the children of UPC connected with the home-bound seniors of the congregation through a year-long stewardship project entitled Generation to Generation.

This year, the 5 year-old through 6th grade Sunday classes at UPC exchanged letters with 29 members of our congregation who are 85 to 100 years old. This exchange of letters was a rich experience - and has helped to build relationships between the generations here at UPC.

The classes made posters, decorated cards, asked questions, and drew pictures about the things they were learning. From the letters they received back, the children learned about games like Run Sheep Run, Drop the Handkerchief, Marbles, Annie-I-Over, Parcheesi, and Hide and Seek. They also learned about the deep faith these seniors have in Jesus Christ.

Over the course of the year, a special relationship developed between Carol Odem’s 8:30 Kindergarten class and Peggy Dannenmiller, a former teacher at church and at Queen Anne High School. Carol said, “It was really fun watching the children get to know Mrs. Dannenmiller. It was a wonderful way for the children to learn to reach out to someone they didn’t know and see how they responsded.” In response to the children’s notes, Mrs. Dannenmiller and some of her friends from the Horizon House sent Valentine’s Day cards and an Easter basket. Each Easter basket had two pencils engraved with the words “God Loves You”. The students kept one for themselves and shared the second one with a friend. Mrs. Dannenmiller says the women of Horizon House enjoyed doing things with their hands and creating the projects they gave to the children.

Carol says the thing that surprised her most about the project was the level of involvement. “I had no idea that it was going to become so warm and personal and loving. And that Mrs. Dannenmiller would be as gracious and involved as she was and that the children would just give from their hearts.” This stewardship project spanned four generation and involved the partnership between Congregational Care and Children & Family Ministries. Ann Thomas, Director of Second Wind, called this multi-faceted project “kingdom work”. As she puts it, the seniors expressed a Blessing on a new generation, much like the Patriarchs in the Old Testament, through their correspondence; and the children “drew [the seniors] back to a time when they had a vitality in the church…the days of more active involvement. When you can’t get to church, your life really changes. The seniors were reminded that they were not forgotten.”

As one senior participant said in a letter to the children, “That beautiful poster arrived on a low day for me. The whole day picked up, I felt so good that you remembered me so beautifully. I had forgotten that the Lord will never leave me nor forsake me.”