Ministry Advantage- August 22, 2020
Bible Gateway
Spiritual Formation at Home (Part 2 of 4)
A growing body of research indicates that the decline of strong families means we are swimming in different water than in the past. Even the most conservative estimates tell us we are becoming a nation of unbelievers as fewer people associate themselves with any form of Christian faith. Be careful to use only credible studies since many over-quoted reports lack veracity. The situation is bad enough without overstating the numbers, such as: most self-described unbelievers in this country are former church kids. Only about half of those who attend church with their parents remain active believers as adults. Most churches affirm the priority of faith at home, but they struggle to develop workable strategies.
The Strong Families Innovation Alliance identified ten components that are essential to building a customized strategy for church-driven, family-centered redemption. Here are five of ten "Lego piece" shapes essential to any model.
1. EMPOWER A CHAMPION: If everyone owns it, no one does. Make it clear which senior leader is responsible for keeping spiritual formation at home objectives on the team’s radar screen.
2. ESTABLISH NEW MEASURES: What gets measured gets done. Introduce simple measures that will keep you focused on family-centered strategies and drive continual improvement.
3. BUILD UPON EXISTING CHURCH VISION: Do not compete with or criticize the existing vision. Build upon it to drive family-centered strategies. Don’t re-write the great commission to insert the word "family" or force the team to change everything they are doing. Instead, make everything more effective when it comes to impacting the home.
4. USE EXISTING TIME SLOTS: People will typically give you one or two time slots per week: perhaps the worship service and a small group session. When you move to a third time slot (Saturday workshop, Wednesday study, etc.) participation drops like a rock. Yet most "family" oriented ministries occur in a third or fourth time slot making it impossible to create a church-wide culture. Find ways to make your spiritual formation at home initiative fit and support existing “main time slot” and church calendar priorities.
5. USE "HOME LENS" ON EVERYTHING: As a priority, every area of the church must reflect the family impact vision. Every department and program needs to apply a "faith at home" lens to what they already do rather than create another program that will compete for attention and resources.
This week's article is written by Rodney Cox, President of Ministry Insights and submitted by Russ Olmon, President, Ministry Advantage. For more on this and other helpful subjects, go to www.ministryadvantage.org
For over 20 years Ministry Advantage has been one of the premier church resources that provides coaching and training for pastors and church leaders helping them turn their vision into reality. |
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