Crucial Conversations

Real-Life Wisdom Amidst Cultural Confusion through Intergenerational Conversation

Why Intergenerational Conversation?

It is predicted that by 2025 the amount of information at the fingertips of humanity will be doubling every 12 hrs. Yet despite the seemingly infinite waterfall of information, literally at our fingertips, most of us find wisdom elusively beyond our grasp. Within our information age engagement with content is measured primarily through clicks, likes, & views, all of which can be consumed entirely alone. But if sociologists are right that humans are fundamentally social animals then content consumed alone is not only powerless to combat the fragmentation of our communities, it is making it worse. At SLAQ we believe that one biblical catalyst for transforming information into wisdom, and content into community, is intergenerational conversation.

“We have the concepts of the ancient morality of virtue and goodness, but we no longer have a system with which to connect them”

- Alasdair MacIntyre

Since 2020 Crucial Conversations has facilitated over 800 intergenerational, wisdom seeking conversations between parents/pastors/teachers/mentors and the youth they are discipling.

Spring 2024 Conversation: Faith & Nonviolence

Join a Coalition of Parents/Pastors/Teachers/Mentors in discipling a youth in your life through the pressing topic of faith and nonviolence.

Conversation Launch: Feb 27th, 7:00-8:15 (Parents & Youth)

Community Conversations (in person): March 19th, April 16th, May 14th (7:00 pm - 8:45 pm)

Registration is open Jan 15-Feb 20th

Location: Eastside Church

See PDF Version of the Conversation Guide Here

How do we overcome evil?

Check out this intro video to our Crucial Conversation series on faith & nonviolence. With the question "how do we, as Christians overcome evil?” we will be launching our 12 week conversational journey discovering the bible’s witness to the power of nonviolence in overcoming evil.

We can only do this important work through the support of our partners, so once again, thank you!

Donate to Crucial Conversations

Format of Crucial Conversations

Three months of Household & Community Conversations

Each Conversation Series is 12 weeks long and follows a rhythm of three weekly “Household Conversations” followed by a monthly “Community Conversations.” This adds up to a total of 9 household conversations and 3 community conversations over the course of three months.

12 week rhythm = 3x household conversations, 1x community conversation, repeated 3 times.

Household Conversations

Everyone who participates in Crucial Conversations does so as a part of an intergenerational Conversation Group who engage the Conversation Pieces of a given week, and converse about it together in what we call “Household Conversations”. These groups may be made of parents and their teens, pastor’s and their youth, teachers and their students, or mentors and their mentees (adult-youth ratios from 1-1 through to 1-3 will work). All that matters is that they meet each week that there is not a Community Conversation, throughout the three month series for a total of nine Household Conversations.

Community Conversation:

Each month for three months all of the Conversation Groups will gather together for a “Community Conversation” wherein participants will: 1) get to hear reflections or teachings from community leaders 2) engage in dynamic small group break out conversations, and 3) test their knowledge of the previous months content through a group trivia game!

Watch Parties

An optional (but fun) part of the series will include one movie a month that we encourage conversation groups to watch together. It is especially fun when multiple groups order pizza and throw a watch party all together.

To Learn about the “Why?” behind Crucial Conversations, as inspired by the story of young Jesus in the temple Check out this

CruCon Intro Video: Why? (20 Min)

I didn't have the benefit of conversations like this one that put "what I do to make a living" in perspective with "who I am called to be as a beloved child of God." I'm grateful for this chance to engage in that conversation with my daughter and her peers.

Crucial Conversations Father

While it’s so important for my generation to hear from older generations, especially about less enjoyable topics like faith and science or faith and violence. I also think it’s just as important for older generations to hear from my generation, and to understand where we’re coming from

Crucial Conversations Youth

Fall 2023 Conversation:

Faith & Vocation

Conversation Launch: Sept 26th, 7:00-8:30

Community Conversations: October 24th, Nov 28th, January 23rd

Times: 5:30-7:00 (Pizza & Documentary Watch Party) 7:00 - 8:30 Community Conversation

Sep -Jan Home Study Content

Past Crucial Conversations

Below you will find past Crucial Conversations, including the core conversation pieces & momento’s developed as fruit of those conversations

Faith & Science.

A three month exploration of the why behind the how of life, with expert guides along the way.

Fall 2023 Conversation

Faith & Wisdom

These three “Conversation Pieces” are the ones that stood out amidst the content that we engaged during our 3 month long series on Faith & Wisdom

Spring 2022 Conversation

Faith & Media

These three “Conversation Pieces” are the ones that stood out among the content that we engaged, which we commend to any church or family wanting to have their own crucial conversation on faith & media.  

Ten Tech Commandments

These “rules for Life” carry the voice of both the youth and adult participants in discerning a healthy “digital diet”

Choose Life stickers

After listing key phrases from all three community conversations we invited everyone to vote on which terms “brought life,” and which ones, “brought death.” From that vote we created these word cloud stickers.

SLAQ Adventures offers Highschool youth from diverse backgrounds a chance to discover the sacredness of life and the gift of a “good” creation through real-life adventure, service, & conversation.

Updates, photo highlights, quotes, and musings on Instagram & Facebook

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