Faith at HOME

I just finished a proposal for Family Ministry at Trinity. Here are some shocking statistics from The Barna Research Institute:

• 85% of parents believe they have the primary responsibility for the moral and spiritual develoment of their children, yet 2 out of 3 of them abdicate that responsibility to their church.
• Fewer than 10% of parents who regularly attend church read the Bible with their kids, pray together (other than meal times) or participate in an act of service as a family unit.
• 90% of kids active in high school youth groups drop out of church by the time they are sophomores in college. One third will never return.

A study was conducted by the Search Institute to determine what influenced teens in their faith. The results showed that mom and dad are 2-3 times more influential than any church program yet only 12% of churched youth have ever talked with their mom about faith and only 5% of churched youth have talked with their dad about faith. What's the problem?

• Families today have more things competing for their time than ever before.
• Just as parents take their kids to soccer, piano or school to learn a skill, they take their children to church for them to learn faith.
• Many parents feel ill-equipped to lead their children in the faith.

So, what do we do? We must re-establish the home as the primary place where faith is nurtured. While parents have the God-given responsibility, the church serves as a vital partner. What if we equipped parents to live out their faith at home with a new skill each year of their child's life? Prayer, serving, devotions, Bible reading, etc. Imagine what would happen if every family learned a new skill each year from the birth of their child until that child reached age 14. Even if you took a cynical look and claimed that over the course of 14 years, a family only engages in 3 faith skills, at least they are doing 3 more than they were before! A family serving together for Christ will be changed. A family prayinb together will be changed. A family reading the Bible together will be changed. In the long run, we'll see transformed families!

God designed the home as the primary place for spiritual formation. A strong family is where "the Word" becomes "flesh and blood" in the context of real relationships. Our perception of God is heavily influenced by the relationship we have with our parents - for good or bad. The church needs to keep fulfilling its role with excellence but the time has come for us to call the family to fulfill its role and help them do so in an intentional manner. We must re-establish faith at home and this is what I'll be giving myself to for this next ministry season.