The following is the text from an email I sent out to the Family Enrichment Prayer Team I have at church. It’s a group of people who have committed themselves to praying for the young families at church and be intentional about lifting up the classes and events we offer for families.

Why Families Are Important!

Things seems to be settling into a good groove with our latest family enrichment initiatives. Why is what we’re doing in the family ministry so important? Most churches have bible classes for kids, so what makes ministering to families different?

I have spent the nearly ten years I’ve been in ministry trying to come up with the best way to articulate an answer to this question. The best reason I have come up with is this:

No context carries as much potential as a family
to show a child what the good life in Christ looks like.

You heard that right, even above a church, a family has greater potential to impart a lasting, vibrant and maturing faith. George Barna has done one research study after another about how church programs and Sunday services do not leave as deep an impact as a home with spiritual formation as it’s focus.

So what does this mean for us? It means in order for us to have the greatest impact possible, we have to be reaching and equipping the parents. We cannot assume that because parents are bringing kids to church that there is faith formation happening in the home. Unless we are training parents how to connect what happens at church with what happens in the home, we leave a greater chance that our efforts, 1 hour each week, will not be maximized towards lifelong discipleship.

So keep on praying for our families. Take one to lunch. Find out what their lives are like and ask what they really need. Help them navigate living out their faith amid busy schedules and competing voices telling them what’s truly important.

Thank you for your investment in our families. It IS making an eternal impact!