D6 Conference Reflections, Part 2

So, I hope you had a chance to read the Scriptures that I posted previously as to what God's Word says in regards to the family passing on their faith. These are the foundation on this discussion of connecting the church and home. Today, I would like to share a few quotes that hopefully get you thinking about how we need to change the way we do ministry in the church.

"As the family goes, so goes the future of the Church. Religious life in the home is more influential than the Church." (Peter Benson, Search Institute)

"Perhaps the most important question we can ask is this: How much time, energy, and resources are we investing to make the home the primary place where faith is nurtured?" (Mark Holmen, Building Faith At Home pg. 12)

"I believe it is time for the Church to rescue families." (Mark Holmen, Building Faith pg. 12)

"We've outsourced the cleaning of our clothes, the washing of our windows, the mowing of our yards--and, unfortunately, we've also outsourced the spiritual training of our children." (John Trent, Foreward of Shift by Brian Haynes)

"Are you weary of having the greatest programs in the world while the people and families around you self-destruct?" (Brian Haynes, Shift pg. 30)

"The plan from the beginning has been for the church and family to work together for the spiritual formation of the next generation." (Brian Haynes, Shift pg. 30)

"God created families to be discipleship centers." (Rob Rienow, D6 Conference)

"Most teenagers and their parents may not realize it, but a lot of research in the sociology of religion suggests that the most important social influence in shaping young people's religious lives is the religious life modeled and taught to them by their parents." (Christian Smith, Soul Searching)

As you think and ponder these quotes, I hope you hear a similar theme. We have developed a mentality of "bring your kids to us" in the church. We also spend the majority of our time, money, and energy preparing for activities at the church. However, much of the research suggests that mom or dad are more influential than we are in shaping spiritual lives. I am not writing this to eliminate the church or my job, but instead to get us thinking that we as the church might need to consider investing more energy and time equipping parents to pass on their faith. It is not only supported in the research, but it is also biblical.

I am excited about the move of God in many church leaders about the need for a change. Here are a couple of books or organizations to check out:

Shift by Brian Haynes
Building Faith at Home by Mark Holmen
Visionary Parenting by Rob Rienow
Strong Families Innovation Alliance (www.strongfamilies.com)

My next post on this topic might take several weeks or months as I process what this looks like in my home and church. Blessings to you as you consider how these quotes and statistics and the Scriptures from a previous post impact your thinking about ministry in the church.