A Ministry of the School of Theology and Christian Ministry—Olivet Nazarene University

Family Ministry

Many churches are recognizing the importance of being family-focused and are making changes to address this important element of the church.  In this month’s article, Dr. Leon Blanchette will explore the term “family” ministry and ask the question, “What exactly is a family-focused ministry?”  He will propose that perhaps we have misunderstood what it means to be a family-focused church and offer an alternative way to think about it.

This month’s article is part one of two parts.  This article will discuss deep questions about family ministry and what it looks like, while next month’s article will propose practical how-tos.

Featured Article

Family Ministry Reconsidered

Leon Blanchette   1/05/12




The buzz word today is “family” ministry. Incorporating the word into the common language of the church has become routine and ordinary.  One can’t talk about ministry without talking about family ministry. The word can be found in magazines, curriculum, college classrooms, and even in ministry titles. I can remember about twelve or so years ago changing my title from Children’s Pastor to Pastor to Families with Children.  I wanted to be on the cutting edge of this new emphasis that recognized ministry to the whole family is much more glamorous than ministry to just children.  I believe my heart was in the right place and my intentions were to try to meet the needs of the entire family while still focusing on the children I had been called to serve.  I suppose it was a good start, but my understanding of what it meant to minister to the family was certainly lacking.  I think the same may be true today when many hear the phrase “family” ministry.

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Tags: Children, Families, MInistry, Worship
 

Recent Articles

Child Faith: Experiencing God and Spiritual Growth with your Children by Donald and Brenda Ratcliff

Mark Frisius   11/01/11

Facilitating Faith in Children: A book review of Donald and Brenda Ratcliff, Child Faith: Experiencing God and Spiritual Growth with your Children (Cascade Books: Eugene, OR, 2010).

How do we help our children develop a genuine faith in Christ? This is a question that is asked by most every Christian parent, along with most every pastor and Sunday school worker, since the beginnings of the church. Although this question has been asked many times, there remain no easy answers. It is in an attempt to help parents grow and nurture the faith of their children that Donald and Brenda Ratcliff have written Child Faith, the book which is the subject of this review.

As I begin this review, let me first state that I am by no measure an expert on child development. My expertise lies in other areas. What I am, is daddy to a two and a half year old little boy named Eli. My wife and I adopted Eli from South Korea when he was 14 months old, and that is when we seriously started to ask the question which started this review. It was a few months later that Leon Blanchette, the moderator for this forum on Epworth Pulpit, asked me to read and write a review of this text (for those of you doing the math, you will notice that I have taken my time reading Child Faith, which has more to do with chasing a toddler, who never runs out of energy, then it does with the quality of the book)

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Tags: Children, Faith, Families
 

Jr. High Discipleship - Fact or Fiction

Elizabeth Bjorling   2/01/11

 

As I sit with my steaming hot Starbuck’s cup, with every part of my body aching of tiredness I ask myself, was it worth it?  The months of planning?  The lack of sleep?  The fundraising?  The scrambling to replace last minute cancellations of small group leaders? Will the changes I see in students actually last?   Was this just an emotionally driven mountain top experience or was this the great beginning of an epic lifetime adventure of following Jesus? 

To an outside observer, examining our registered students on Friday afternoon before departure, the prospects didn't look very bright.  Looking at those squirrelly Jr. Highers hanging out in the gym before we left, girls giggling and guys shoving each other, most would assume that leading them to deep discipleship was exceeding the realms of possibility.  For 7th-8th grade students to abandon their cell phones and I-pods and go on an adventure to deepen their faith is not something you will see on the nightly news, and yet it happened. 

When looking at this motley crew, I confess I sometimes wonder, are they even capable of engaging with God on a deeper level?  Are we expecting too much?  Have teenagers changed too much to expect them to respond like those before them have?   Perhaps the portrait of deep devotion in a student is something we dreamt up, but I don’t think so.  My dad always said, “You might not be able to lead a horse to water and make him drink, but you can run him around a lot and make him really thirsty.”  For years now I never cease to be amazed at the conversations I have with this deeply awkward, vulnerable, and honest group of young people as they are made thirsty for the things of God.

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Too Young to Go to War, Old Enough to Suffer

Jane Kennard   12/01/10

Do you know a seven-year-old?  What makes her giggle?  What toy tops his Christmas list this year?  Most youngsters engage life with tons of energy, curiosity and delight.  An increasing number, unfortunately, are drained of childhood optimism and vigor.  The culprit?  War!  I'm not talking about the plight of children in Afghanistan or Iraq forced to take up weapons.  American and Canadian children, those in our own backyards, playing soccer and hockey afterschool, and memorizing multiplication tables are the ones suffering from war.   They are children of soldiers.  Writing on November 11, 2010, Remembrance Day (Veterans Day), Jamie Hall of the Edmonton Journal warns that "children of soldiers are among the biggest casualties" 1 of war.

How serious is it? Stacy Bannerman, author of When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind, reports the attempted suicide of a seven-year-old second-grader while his father was deployed to Iraq yet again.2   Suicide?  A seven-year-old?  A rare occurrence to be sure but the precipitating anguish and anxiety are all too common among youngsters in military families.  Data released in May 2010, indicates a significant increase in the number of children of active duty parents using mental health services.  In just five years (2003 - 2008), outpatient mental health visits made by children doubled from one million to two million.3   During the same period, the "total days of inpatient psychiatric care for children of active duty personnel 14 and under increased from 35,000 to 55,000."4 Kids ages 4 to 17 whose parent has deployed seek mental health services at a rate three and a half times  higher than their civilian counterparts.5  Sound serious enough?

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Tags: Children
 

Kids in the Dark

Leon Blanchette   11/02/10

 

I teach a children's ministry class at Olivet where students are required to do interviews with children. This is always an interesting project because we know from developmental theorists that children's verbal skills and vocabulary do not develop as quickly as their ability to understand and experience life. As part of the interview process, my students have children draw pictures of what they think God looks like and their understanding of the word, "church" (we have found that art is a great way for children to express themselves). One set of questions that the students ask include "Does God ever talk to you? Do you ever hear God speak? What does his voice sound like?" While one might expect kids to say they do not hear God talk, the truth is that many respond in the affirmative.

I realize there are a multitude of potential explanations for their responses, but one recurring comment has intrigued me. Many of the children of various ages have said that they hear God talk to them at night when they are in bed.  For five years I have collected student interviews of children of all ages and those who say God talks to them all say it is at night in bed. This has caused me to ask, why?  What is unique about bedtime?  Is there something special about being in bed?  Is there significance to the darkness of night? 

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Tags: Children, Prayer
 

Children Come.... Third?

Jessica Fleck   9/07/10

 

Children cannot defend themselves.  At church, that is the purpose of the children's pastor.  Most boards are not made up of parents with young children.  If any money is allotted to the children it is usually half as much as is allotted to adults.  Some parents never step foot inside the church.  Only the Director of Children's Ministries fully understands what is going on with the children of the church.  Thus, without the children's pastor, young people have no defender.  If no one else is going to put the kids first, it has to be the children's pastor.  The problem is, this is not what the Bible teaches. 

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Tags: Children