We Intergen is where all generations
come together building harmony
But its roots go deeper. Previously, Bruce had served as a Sunday School director for seven years and a youth pastor for six, using a variety of original and purchased materials to reach students. One thing that motivated him was developing lessons that were authentic, relatable, well prepared, and actionable. In order to learn, students needed to talk freely, have some fun and be engaged with an enthusiastic facilitator/teacher. Engaging the scripture of his own and other faith traditions, he introduced creative activities (think Legos, food competitions), made short films with youth, put on skits, and invited guest speakers of different ages to present.
Former pastor Mika Deshotel had stepped down a few years prior to spend more time with her family and work on her doctorate in ministry. She was a year into in her doctoral work studying children’s faith formation when she too began reading about intergenerational theory. Watching her four young children navigate the challenges of find peers in a congregation without a large number of children their own age led her to see what other intergenerational pioneers were saying: the intergenerational worship and education filled a practical need, but was also theologically sound.
The First Thread,
Where the Weaving Began
On the surface, the roots of We-Intergen began in the doctoral studies of Bruce Clarke, who had previously reached master’s level degrees and certification in education, history and religious studies. In 2024, what began as a search to reach and develop a faith formation theory for children and teenagers became instead a focus on the whole family. Reaching the whole family at Sunday Service meant bringing methods for all ages into one setting, and doing so through the collaboration of an intergenerational planning team. Bruce is the founder and president of We Intergen Ministry & Consulting.
Mika and Bruce planned their first worship service in August 2024, inviting the voices of children and a young adult to perform and present. A former youth pastor and a former pastor began to prepare and give one Sunday Service a month at the Family Church of Connecticut in Bridgeport. They felt this work was needed in communities of faith across the Christian spectrum. Bruce and Mika embraced a vision that God planted in their hearts of helping interested churches and organizations build intergenerational programs.
In early 2025, We Intergen Inc. was founded in the State of Connecticut for charitable purposes, and is registered as 501c3 charity.
Weaving generations with our core values…
Creativity
We engage creatively with scripture and each other. Through creative expression, our beliefs become visible as we interact with how God becomes visible to us.
Welcoming
We create the compassionate space where strangers become friends, children become adults, and adults become like children.
Service
We encourage all to give from a heart of knowing that our Heavenly Parent provides for us in order that we might accommodate others in our family, community and world
Celebration
We celebrate each other and we celebrate God.
Love of God
We invite people to engage with the living God, the living Christ and the living True Parents. Doubters and seekers, inquisitive and discouraged lifelong followers may all engage without fear of judgment.
All Ages Together
All of us who have grown in faith and practice need to be alongside those who are growing. The young need be alongside the old so both can be nourished in wisdom and vision.
Stories Connect Us
God has a story too, just as scripture and history tell us the stories of men and women who have struggled and lived righteously. Each of us has a worthy story of struggles and victories.