podcast - Preview from The Together with God Podcast by Together with God on the iTunes Store.
If we are to see children and young people continuing in faith in our churches, we need to enable Christian parents to nurture their children’s spirituality. Parents are their children’s biggest influencers – but many feel ill equipped or simply don’t know where to start.
Boys2Men, which started as a church-based project in
Redditch, has been given a major boost by a local entrepreneur who has provided
funding to enable the project leader, Phil Williams, to work full time,
enabling the scheme to reach more boys and their Dads.
Alison buried her face in her grandad’s cardigan and smelt the same aroma of soap she remembered as a child. Now, aged 15, she felt comfortable that at least some things hadn’t changed. But she also felt ashamed, that at her age, she still needed the reassurance of her Grandad’s presence through all that had happened.
Her Dad had just left home. He had never even said goodbye. Her Mum was angry, confused, saying things about Dad that left Alison upset and angry too. Her brother didn’t seem to care. There was nowhere to go except to Grandad. There, in his arms, she felt safe. She felt there that the family still existed. She discovered there some hope for the future.
This is an unusual theology book – it’s a collection of short chapters considering a “specialised subject” in great detail. That subject is “family”.
Domestic Church is a way of describing spiritual activities taking place in a home setting. It has been practised across the centuries, although not always called by this name. At a time when faith in the homes of many Christian families consists of bedtime stories and prayers, Domestic Church is a way of tapping into the spiritual potential of all the other activities they do together.
Despite parents sometimes feeling they have little influence on their children, we know that we absorb many of our values for life, including spiritual ones, from our parents.
How do we help others to be “Here2Stay”, when there are so many reasons for “them2go.” The world is to be explored. The “prodigal story” is alive and well in 2015. In Western Society in particular the world is their oyster, and we have been taught that we are our own “destiny makers.” As a mother, a pastor, a friend and motivator I am constantly searching for a way to encourage others to walk closely with God and make Him the centre of their life, their whole life long.
There is an African saying, “IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD” hence the statement, “IAM BECAUSE WE ARE”. This has been the base and foundation for the African Family Unit for generations.
Three Models for Intergenerational Faith Formation
The three models described are not the only ways to do intergenerational ministry, and this is by no means an exhaustive or authoritative list. This is however a short but helpful way of reflecting on this area of ministry.
God gave the Israelites deep, precious and timeless words of instruction and guidance. Deuteronomy 6 is God’s response to the question of how faith will survive in the “new land.” The passage gives crucial principles and guidance for passing on the faith from generation to generation, from parents to children, and grandparents to grandchildren.
Dad Matters – Forming Faith
If both father and mother attend regularly, 33 percent of their children will end up as regular churchgoers, and 41 percent will end up attending irregularly. Only a quarter of their children will end up not practicing at all. If the father is irregular and mother regular, only 3 percent of the children will subsequently become regulars themselves, while a further 59 percent will become irregulars. Read more of this thought provoking article here
Are we prepared to put the same strategic, financial and people resources into nurturing the children of the church, and reaching the unchurched child, that we pour into our evangelism courses, youth work and church fabric budgets?
Heritage can relate to many things, but for our purpose we will use the Oxford Dictionary definition which in part states; Heritage is: “Valued qualities and cultural traditions that have been passed down from previous generations”.
God created and designed us to live in a community called family but we live in a world filled with broken hearts and broken homes. Globally we are confronted by the struggles and the results of fragile, hurting families … and we are worried.
What is forming the spiritual intelligence in our youngest children? Kevin Unicomb looks at child discipleship from within the traditions of his church and draws out universal lessons for us all.
I parked my car and headed up the footpath towards the shops past two children aged about three and five years sitting on a bus-stop seat They were singing quietly to themselves,”I can feel a fourex coming on…!’. I stopped. “What other songs do you know?” I asked. They named several – all advertising jingles. They could recall no other songs.
We have produced a 24 page Family Creative Prayer Journal for the Thy Kingdom Come prayer initiative (25th May-5th June 2017). It is A4, full colour, and in a similar style to our popular Lent and Advent journals. It is aimed at families to pray together for mission and evangelism, and is engaging for people of all ages and whatever stage of faith journey.
This is a lot like sweets prayer but with mini eggs. The concept is simple: 1 For each colour egg, decide on one category of things to thank God for. 2 Take it in turns to take a mini egg and thank God for something in that category before eating your egg. Prayers can be […]
In retrospect, the birth of the iPhone was a historic moment. The iPhone popularised smart phones and revolutionised the way we communicate and engage with our world. Ten years later, most people walk around with one of them in their pocket — or some sort of similar supercomputer.
Welcome! You might be here because your child has recently been asking about playing a new game called Guardians of Ancora. On these pages you will find answers to questions that you might have, and also information that you might find helpful should you wish to play an active role in your child's involvement with the game.
An affirming Easter gift for Messy Churches to give to their Messy families to use at home over Easter. This minibook aims to transfer the core values of Messy Church to the home and family context, encouraging families to talk together, be creative, be hospitable, be Christ-centred and celebratory, and including activities for all ages.
How do you view rituals? Religious, solemn, and prescribed? If so, they don’t sound very easy or exciting to use with our families at home! However, for me, at its heart, a ritual is a series of actions or behaviours which are done regularly – it’s something which is repeated. And it’s this repetition which allows us to go deeper.
