 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Reaching Families in your Community "Family values" are hot right now. But not everyone using the word family is working with the same definition. As we think about ministry in the congregation, what do we mean by family? One way to define family is the group of people to whom we are connected by birth or adoption as parents, children, siblings, or other relatives. This group of people can be configured in a variety of ways. Another way to define family is as our enduring, life giving, and supportive relationships. Just as families today come in variety of configurations, families in the Bible did also. Here are a few examples. Abraham and Sarah were the heads of a large, extended household. Their clan consisted of 318 trained men. Add women and children and you have quite a crowd. Rahab was the matriarch of her family of father, mother, brothers, other unnamed family members, and slaves. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus made up a household of siblings. Timothy lived with his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois. Elizabeth and Zechariah were a small family, having one son born when they were older. Elisha helped a widow keep her two sons with her. Families in the Bible weren't free of problems or conflicts. Ruth and Naomi knew the pain of grief from death of loved ones. Joseph's brothers tore their family apart out of jealousy. Rebecca and Jacob devised a plot to deceive Isaac and Esau. Joseph had to deal with his fiancé‚'s pregnancy. Congregations today are challenged to be places of welcome and nurture for all types of families. Who walks through the doors of your congregation? What are their family needs? What is your congregation equipped to provide to meet the needs and reach the families in your faith community and beyond? The Five Levels of Family Ministry This article presents five levels of congregational family ministry. In this approach, each level becomes more intentional, complex, expensive, and significant and each level requires more commitment. The levels provide a way to begin thinking about family ministry and a guide to begin some kind of programming. Though the levels are somewhat artificial, they can set out a path from no ministry to families, to a place where family ministry is at the very heart of what the congregation is about. Some congregations will find the levels to be sequential as they start at level one and proceed through the levels over time. Level One: First Foray. Level One is the earliest and easiest level. Congregations operating on this level may offer a "family" class or two every year: perhaps a five-week course on "Talking About Faith in the Family," a video series on "Parenting," or a class on "Communication" or "Changing Shapes of Families Today." These activities get people thinking about the family and encourage leaders to consider how the congregation can deal more effectively with the family. Level Two: Initial Intentionality. Level two begins when a few leaders in the congregation focus on the need for family ministry and work to raise the congregation's awareness. The leaders see the possibilities for a deeper, permeating ministry. Marriage enrichment weekends, parenting workshops, a family campout, and leadership training in family ministry are examples of this level. Level Three: Advocacy and Initial Structures. Congregational leaders who are committed to family ministry model advocacy for the sensitivity to family issues. As a result, the congregation may establish a board or committee for family ministry or hire a full-time, professional family minister. The committee may publish a list of family social agencies, counselors, or support groups that are available to families. Level three continues the important task of family education but the focus may shift to preventative learning, helping families to avert future crises. Classes or retreats may offer help in communication skills; conflict resolution; positive discipline for parents; how to nurture and affirm children in order to build self-esteem; sexuality; how faith develops in children and how to nurture it and discuss it openly. The committee might take time to reexamine its congregational and community demographics, seeking families that could be served. Level Four: Interactive and Skill-Building. Level four adds interactive programming that brings families together to talk to each other. Interactivity happens when people discuss real problems in light of the new skills being taught. Congregations operating at level four need a higher degree of trust and commitment from the people and a higher degree of expertise from leaders. As this level people may feel safe enough to talk about abuse, for example. Support groups for divorced, widowed, or empty-nesters may come into full-bloom at this time. People from the surrounding community will hear that the congregation is addressing their needs and will seek to enter congregational programs. Level Five: Integrated. The interactive programming of level four has taught these congregations the need for a holistic, integrated plan for family ministry. Out of that need they have formulated an intentional, practical theory of family ministry that fits their setting. They see a need to write family ministry into their mission statements, their constitution and by-laws, and their promotional material about their church. At this level, churches realize that they should dedicate all of their efforts to family ministry. The level five congregation has trained people to offer assistance to families who experience death, violence, acute sickness, or some other crisis. These trained helpers work to meet the families' basic needs and set the stage for more ministry in the future. At this level family ministry permeates. It not only ministers to people, but those who receive care go on to minister to others. Congregations can aim for a particular level of ministry, based on an
assessment of their needs and their resources. The five-level model presented here gives
congregations that are just starting in family ministry a way to see the path ahead. The
way leads to including family ministry as an exciting congregational focus. Like all
ministry, family ministry centers on Gospel-renewed relationships and teaches people to be
open to the work of the Spirit. Like all ministry, it finds its source in the Cross. |