As a church, we want to be in partnership with families in order to see the generations come to know and respond to the gospel of Jesus. At Berean, we are taking a specific approach to help do just that. I have the fun of leading our Family Ministry team that consists of Kids, Youth, Men’s and Women’s ministries. Our goal is to work together, as one ministry, as one church, to practically accomplish the goals that we have set.
So what is the WHY behind what we are doing? Why do we take a Family Ministry approach as a church and what does that mean?
Survey Says…
Depending on what survey you look at (and there have been quite a few), somewhere between 58-84% of graduating youth from church youth groups are leaving the church. They are both abandoning the church and abandoning their faith. This is an incredibly high and disturbing number! Some will respond to this by saying, “but some of them are returning to the church when they start a family.” Yes, that is true, but I just can’t find peace in the fact that students and young adults are walking away from God, no matter if it is temporary or permanent.
So do we abandon everything, make sweeping changes, and throw out everything we know when it comes to kids and youth ministries in the church? I don’t think that would be a healthy response. Instead, what we have done is go to Scripture to see what it has to say about the strategy that we have taken in our North American churches over the last 40-50 years. Here is just a taste of what we find:
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
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Our first call is to focus on our own love for God. This should then spur us on to teach the ways of God to our children. It is the responsibility of parents to pass down the knowledge and understanding of who God is and what He has done. This leads us to the understanding that the home and the family is the primary evangelism and discipleship context of the next generation. Parents are to teach their children who God is, what He has done, and what He promises He will do.
Psalm 78:1-7
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
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We see that parents are to tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, His might, and the wonders He has done. The purpose is so that the next generation might know them and then tell their children, who will tell their children…so that generation after generation will set their hope in God and not forget His works. This is what discipleship looks like, and it is to happen within the context of the home and family.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
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As Christian parents, it is important to view our children as sinners who are in need of a Savior. Our children have been given to us as a gift. As ambassadors for Christ, we are to teach them the gospel and the message of reconciliation.
This gives us just a taste of what the Bible teaches us. As we clearly see that God has placed parents and the home at the forefront of the faith development of our children, then what does that mean for the church? For years we have been led to believe that it is the church’s job to make sure that all children and youth understand the gospel. It has been assumed (and the church has taken on the responsibility) that the church and its professionals should take the lead. But if Scripture is leading us in a different direction, does that mean the church should back away?
I believe wholeheartedly that the answer to that is no. However, instead of the church taking the lead and parents abdicating their roles (and being led to do so), the church and the home should be in partnership together. The church should partner with parents in their effort to evangelize and disciple their children in order that the generations will set their hope in God, not forget His works, and take the gospel to the nations. It should act as a support, a guide, and help in the process.
So what does that look like? We’ll tackle that question in part 2.
