Developing Deeper Relationships Between Senior Adults and Youth at First Baptist Church of St Albans through Opportunities for Interaction

This project was designed to determine the feasibility of creating and deepening relationships between various generations in the context of the local church. The study took place at First Baptist Church of St Albans, West Virginia. Specifically, it was intended to discover whether or not senior adults can develop relationships with youth when provided time and space in which to interact with them.;Much has already been written concerning the willingness of youth to pursue relationships with caring adults, and the benefit of those relationships. Very little has been written concerning the willingness of senior adults to engage youth in relationship. This study focused on the experiences and observations of the senior adults who participated in order to develop a clearer understanding of their ability to pursue relationship with youth.;This study demonstrates that senior adults can develop relationships with youth when given time and space to interact and that these relationships can be of great benefit to the senior adults and youth involved. These relationships have also proven to be of great benefit to the broader congregation. This study further demonstrated that as senior adults spend time with youth and become familiar with who they are, the attitudes and interactions they have with youth become increasingly positive. This positivity spreads to other areas of church membership and results in greater opportunities for youth to engage in the life and ministries of the church body.