Five Ways Christian School Leaders Can Meaningfully Engage Grandparents

There is a quiet revolution happening in Christian education, and it is sitting in the pews, the bleachers, and the volunteer rooms of our schools. Grandparents represent one of the most underutilized yet profoundly strategic partners available to Christian school leaders today. 

Research consistently confirms what Scripture has long declared: the multigenerational transmission of faith is not an accident. Psalm 78:4–7 calls each generation to make God's deeds known to their children and their children's children. Deuteronomy 6:2 frames the commands of God as a multigenerational inheritance. The family in its broadest and most extended sense is God's design for discipleship. 

According to AARP's Grandparenting in the United States report, more than 70 million Americans are grandparents, and many are actively involved in their grandchildren's lives. A 2022 survey by the American Grandparents Association found that 57% of grandparents provide regular financial or caregiving support to their grandchildren's households. In Christian contexts, this involvement carries profound discipleship implications. Yet most Christian schools have no intentional strategy to engage this generation. 

That gap is a missed opportunity and a calling worth addressing. 

Below is a framework built around the acronym G.R.A.N.D., a reminder that grandparents are not a peripheral audience but a grand opportunity for the mission of Christian education. 

G: Give Grandparents a Seat at the Table 

Meaningful engagement begins with meaningful inclusion. Christian school leaders should create intentional touchpoints that invite grandparents, not just as spectators but as stakeholders. 

This might look like a dedicated Grandparents' Day chapel or classroom experience that goes beyond a photo opportunity. Research by Dr. Karl Rohnke and others in experiential education confirms that shared experiences build lasting relational bonds. When grandparents participate in a chapel service, hear a student testimony, or sit alongside their grandchild in a Bible class, they leave with more than a warm memory. They leave as informed ambassadors for your school's mission. 

Consider forming a Grandparent Advisory Circle, a small group of engaged grandparents who meet once or twice per year to offer wisdom, surface community concerns, and provide counsel to leadership. Their life experience is a resource most school boards never tap. 

R: Recruit Grandparents as Mentors and Volunteers 

Grandparents possess something schools rarely have in abundance: time and wisdom. Studies from the Search Institute demonstrate that young people who have five or more caring adults invested in their lives are significantly more resilient (a flourishing school construct) and more likely to maintain their faith into adulthood. 

Christian schools should develop structured grandparent mentorship programs, connecting willing grandparents with students, not just their own grandchildren, for regular conversation, prayer, or skill-sharing. A retired engineer tutoring in math, a former teacher leading a writing workshop, a retired nurse with first aid supplies (bandages, sunscreen, and bite soother) on the playground, or a seasoned missionary sharing stories of God's faithfulness across decades are all irreplaceable contributions. 

Recruitment should be intentional. A personal invitation from the principal or headmaster is exponentially more effective than a bulletin announcement. Grandparents, like all people, respond to being genuinely needed. 

A: Affirm the Multigenerational Vision in Your Curriculum 

Christian school leaders set the theological and pedagogical tone of their institutions. One practical step is to embed intergenerational content into the curriculum: projects, assignments, and conversations that explicitly invite students to engage their grandparents as living repositories of faith, history, and wisdom. 

Oral history projects, family faith timeline assignments, and interviews with grandparents about navigating trials through Scripture are powerful pedagogical tools. They accomplish two things simultaneously: they enrich student learning, and they dignify the experience of older adults. Research in gerontology confirms that when older adults feel their stories and wisdom are valued, their psychological well-being and sense of purpose increase measurably. 

This is discipleship pedagogy at its finest, and it honors the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:12) not merely as a behavioral expectation but as a formative educational practice. 

N: Nurture Grandparents through School Communication 

One of the most common frustrations among grandparents affiliated with Christian schools is that they receive little to no direct communication from the institution. They hear secondhand, through their grandchildren or adult children, about what is happening in the school community. 

Christian school leaders should establish a grandparent communication channel: a quarterly e-newsletter tailored to grandparents, prayer updates, or a "Grandparent Portal" within the school's communication platform. Content might include student spotlights, faculty devotional reflections, and specific ways grandparents can pray for the school. 

This is not merely a marketing strategy. It is an act of Christian hospitality. It says you are part of this community, and we want you to know what God is doing here. 

D: Deploy Grandparents as Prayer Warriors 

Perhaps the most underestimated ministry grandparents can offer is the ministry of intercession. Many grandparents who cannot drive to school events, volunteer in classrooms, or attend every game are entirely capable of praying with extraordinary faithfulness and depth. 

Christian school leaders should organize a Grandparent Prayer Team as a committed group who receive weekly prayer requests for students, faculty, administration, and upcoming events. This gives grandparents a vital, dignified role that matches their capacity and honors their spiritual maturity. 

James 5:16 reminds us that "the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." Grandparents who have walked with God through decades of trial and testimony carry a depth of faith that should be actively harnessed, not passively respected. 

A Grand Opportunity 

Christian school leadership is, at its core, covenant leadership. It calls us to steward not just academic excellence but the multigenerational transmission of faith. When we engage grandparents through intentional invitation, recruitment, curriculum, communication, and prayer, we do more than build community. We enact a biblical vision of the whole people of God raising the next generation together. 

The grandparents connected to your school are not a footnote to your enrollment strategy. They are a G.R.A.N.D. gift, and they are waiting to be invited in. 

Scripture References 

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. 

• Psalm 78:4–7 

• Deuteronomy 6:2 

• Exodus 20:12 

• James 5:16 

   

Research & Statistical References 

• David, P., & Nelson-Kakulla, B. (2019). 2018 Grandparents Today National Survey: General population report. AARP Research. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00289.001 

• Kakulla, B. (2025). The power of grandparents in shaping younger generations. AARP Research. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00984.001 

• AARP Research. (2026, June). Powering families: The essential role of grandparents in care, connection and support. AARP. https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/grandparents-report-2026/ 

• Search Institute. (2024). Developmental Assets® framework. https://searchinstitute.org/developmental-assets 

• Search Institute. (2024). Developmental relationships. https://searchinstitute.org/developmental-relationships 

• Scott, K., & DeBrew, J. K. (2009). Helping older adults find meaning and purpose through storytelling. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 35(3), 38–43. 

• Habib, S., Narine, A., Bluck, S., & Sharma, S. (2022). Older adults share challenges in their life story: Sense of purpose as a resource for resilience. Innovation in Aging, 6(Suppl 1). https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igac059.1428 

• Pecorini, B. C., & Duplaa, E. (2017). Narrative gerontology and digital storytelling: What benefits for elders? MOJ Public Health, 6(6), 451–454. https://doi.org/10.15406/mojph.2017.06.00192 

Additional Recommended Reading for Christian School Leaders 

• Barna Group. (2011). Transforming children into spiritual champions. Regal Books. [Research on the role of the family and extended community in childhood faith formation.] 

• Hess, L., & Kimball, S. (2017). Intergenerational Christian formation: Bringing the whole church together in ministry, community and worship. IVP Academic. 

• Smith, C., & Denton, M. L. (2005). Soul searching: The religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers. Oxford University Press. [Landmark study on faith transmission across generations and the role of adult mentors.]