A Vision for Family Faith Formation

Our call from God to form the faith of our children is laid out in Deuteronomy 6:5-9:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

In this message to parents, God tells us that family faith is formed in everyday life. Parents and children journey in faith together, weaving faith-shaping practices intentionally and seamlessly into the rhythms of daily living.

a child holds the hand of a parent while they walk down a dirt path in a field of grass

In our efforts to support parents in their primary role as faith-shapers at home, it’s important that we not forget our promise to partner with them in community. As Rev. Amanda Bakale (Community CRC, Kitchener, Ontario) explains,

Family ministry is congregational ministry. Each of us are brothers and sisters—from the littlest to the oldest. So [at baptism] parents don't just see their own son or daughter as this baptized child of God, but as a little brother or sister in the faith too. And the congregation doesn't just see that little baptized child of God as the responsibility of parents and programs but as their little brother or sister to whom they have pledged their help, encouragement, and support, as any good older sibling would.

And, of course, while our approach to family faith formation is sealed in baptism, it is rooted in God’s love and and extends beyond those who have been baptized.

Family faith is formed at home, but it’s also formed in community life as together we include, encourage, and equip families. In community we show by our actions that families are part of a bigger tribe—God’s family, their church—and that the body of Christ is with them every step of the way.

In this toolkit you’ll find tools to help your congregation create a vision for family faith formation that

  • is rooted in God’s commands.
  • is sealed in baptismal promises.
  • builds on the unique strengths of each family.
  • is nurtured in everyday practices at home.
  • is formed in community.