Written by David Wheeler, Legacy Coalition Pastor’s Division
You may be aware that the Legacy Coalition has a Pastor’s Division. (That’s a fancy title for a “speaker’s bureau.”) So, why does the Coalition need a Pastor’s Division?
If you’ve been around any Legacy Coalition person or event recently, you’ve heard some version of this statement: “Many grandparents are missing important opportunities to pass on their faith to their grandchildren. At Legacy Coalition, we help grandparents grow in their biblical role through our resources and events, so they can have a greater spiritual impact on their family.”
That passion and vision is a strong motivating factor for us. For five years, God has been expanding the outreach of the Legacy Coalition in amazing ways as we strive to harness the world-changing impact of 30 million Christian grandparents. It’s been a joy to watch grandparents, churches, and pastors as they have awakened to the vital responsibilities of intentional Christian grandparenting.
However, we have often hit a snag. We noticed it especially as we would work with host churches to promote the wonderful “Grandparenting Matters” weekend seminars. The snag was this: when many Christian grandparents would see the publicity, their automatic response would be, “Oh, I don’t need to go to that. I’m an awesome grandparent. I’m doing fine.”
And most of the time, they were doing fine… at least, as far as the popular culture was concerned. They babysat grandkids if they lived nearby, they played with them and snuck snacks to them, they attended the grandkids’ ballgames and dance recitals, etc. In many cases, they even took their grandkids to church or drove them to Vacation Bible School in the summer. So… ”who needs a grandparenting seminar?” they thought.
However, many of these loving grandparents had never given serious thought to being “ambassadors for Christ” in the lives of their grandkids. Unless someone opened their eyes, they were going to miss a very important opportunity to attend the Seminar and be informed, motivated and equipped.
Thus, the Pastor’s Division was created. Several godly and effective pastors/communicators from across the country have been recruited and trained for this team. All of us are intentional grandparents, and many are in their season of retirement. We meet regularly on Zoom for continued training, motivation, and fellowship. This is a fun group of guys!
One of our goals is that a church that is hosting a Grandparenting Matters seminar, or that plans to take a group to a nearby seminar, will invite one of the members of the Pastor’s Division to come preach on a Sunday a few weeks ahead of the event. Each of the Legacy pastors have prepared delightful and engaging sermons addressing the biblical mission of intentional Christian grandparenting.
As they present their message, we pray that the grandparents in the congregation will have an “Aha!” moment: “So that’s what the seminar is about! Shucks, I don’t know much about being an intentional grandparent. I better get registered for that seminar right away.”
But the purpose of the Pastor’s Division goes way beyond simply promoting the Grandparenting Matters seminar.
- Many churches look for a special way of celebrating Grandparent’s Sunday each September. The Pastor’s Division could be a part of that.
- Many Christian camps host an annual Senior Saints day. One of the Legacy pastors could be the primary speaker for that event.
- If a congregation is just awakening to this national intentional grandparenting movement, the preacher may be intimidated by the prospect of preaching a sermon addressing the topic, especially if he is young or not yet a grandparent. That would be a great time to invite one of the Legacy pastors to visit and preach.
You get the idea! The pastors on this team are eager to spread the word about God’s plan to use grandparents to enlarge His kingdom. They may be called a “Division”, but they share powerful unity in their desire to serve the body of Christ in this unique ministry calling.
We know that as churches begin to re-open, local pastors are “chomping at the bit” to get back into their pulpits. That’s very understandable. But please give consideration to inviting a guest Legacy pastor to share with your congregation soon. God is up to something! We want you and your congregations to be a part of it.
A friend just sent me this quote: “We have to start thinking about the kind of world we will leave behind for Betty White when we are all gone.” That’s funny! But considering the spiritual legacy we will leave to our grandkids and succeeding generations is serious business.
If you’d like more information about the Pastor’s Division, please contact George Posthumus at georgep@legacycoalition.com
If you’d like to explore the possibility of hosting a Grandparenting Matters seminar in your area, please contact Brenda Pietzman at brendap@legacycoalition.com
Or, simply email info@legacycoalition.com and you will soon be contacted.
8 thoughts on “The Legacy Pastor’s Division”
My church, Catalyst Church, Panama City, Florida, is using your Grandparenting Matters material to do a grandparenting class.
I knew Wayne Rice back in the 1970s (the Wittenberg Door) and his bluegrass band which performed at my church in Oxnard, California. The current Door showed up on my Facebook which promoted me to look up Wayne and in turn took me to Legacy Coalition and your grandparenting materials.
Catalyst is starting a new Wednesday night program in February called The Porch. It will have 4 classes: Prodigals, Marriage, Parenting, and Grandparenting. These are 8 week classes which will continue throughout the year so participants can attend all the classes throughout the year.
At our elder meeting, when the idea for The Porch was presented with 3 classes, we were asked if anything else was needed. I had just discovered and look over your grandparenting material (I am a retired pastor with 28 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren), and I said yes, grandparents are missing.
Thank you for the excellent and much needed material to make this a success.
Frank Stephens
Thank you for sharing – this is wonderful! May God bless your class.
Tonite was my first looking at U-tube speakers on Christian grandparenting, and at Legacy Coalition. Two weeks ago my church said I could facilitate a group introductory study of how to be a better grandparent and one to be a Christian influence. I need guidance.
We have several resources that could help you get started. One is called Grandparenting Matters – it is a seminar complete with DVD and workbook. We also have Grand Monday Nights which is a free webinar each Monday night. You could show archived episodes and lead a time of discussion. In the next several weeks there will be a 6 week bundle of Grand Monday Nights that will be available called Grandparenting Essentials. This new resource will come with videos and workbook.
I am passing along your question to George Posthumus who is over our Ambassador Team. These are grandparents who come alongside and help new churches start grandparenting ministries. They are a great asset.
I am also passing along your information to Jon Ness who oversees the Grandparenting Matters seminars.
Please let us know if you need additional help.
Do not forget to sign up for the monthly free e-newsletter and Grand Monday Nights. go to our website legacycoalition.com .
I have been listening to Legacy Coalition for a while now, and I am interested in sharing it with our church. I would love to have a booth or info center after church to share this resource as a kick-off. If we have enough interest, we could start a small group just for grandparents. Do you have any resources that can be used?
I have sent your request on to George Posthumus who oversees our Ambassador program. His email is Georgep@legacycoalition.com. If he does not contact you, you may want to connect wi
I heard Wayne Shepherd interview the head of your organization on Bott radio on a Saturday (Ist Person) and want to know how I can get your materials or at least get something to show our pastor. We have a SS class called 50+ and many of us are grandparents. Our children last Sunday put on their program and I had a moment of pause asking God to preserve these precious children from the destructive culture we live in. They are bombarded with propaganda that comes from the enemy of our souls. We only get them for an hour on Sunday mornings. They need role models in their Christian grandparents who need to know how to be intentional in passing on their faith to the next generation. My e-mail address is: loistone@aol.com
Thank you very much
I have shared your information with our Ambassador team. Someone should be connecting with you.