In evangelical circles across America, there has been a good deal of talk recently within the children’s ministry realm about initiating a more deliberate outreach to families.  Much of the impetus behind this movement comes from the belief that parents should be the primary spiritual leaders in their children’s lives, and there is a growing sense that the church needs to focus on equipping the family for this important ministry.

At FBC, focusing on the family has come in waves, in response to the various needs of the congregation.  In the mid-nineties, Pastor Mark Willey and FBC missionary Dave Merkh were focused on teaching fathers how to lead devotions, and since the eighties, Dave and his wife, Carol Sue, have been running family conferences in Brazil.  But recently, a period of years has gone by during which there has not been a strong push to teach families how to teach their children about the Bible.  There have been parenting conferences, but not an ongoing ministry, and within the past year, God has begun to put his finger on this need.

Some leaders in the Equipt ministry began to feel prompted to help families continue the teaching that Equipt teachers do on Sunday mornings, and they’ve fittingly named this new ministry branch “Take it Home.”  The main service of this ministry will be posting quarterly updates on their (future) page on the FBC website, complete with a new article written by Dave Merkh, as well as resource links and fresh ideas for family devotions – for families with toddlers through teenagers.  There will be age-appropriate material for all. 

“We want to encourage parents to see it is as a priority and then equip them with ideas and resources going forward,” says Lisa Meyers, mother of four and Ministry Coordinator of Equipt. 

Although the “Take it Home” ministry will begin with a big bang on Friday, June 11 with a conference called “Planting God’s Word in Your Kid’s Hearts,” presented by Dave Merkh, the main objective of this ministry is not to hold one-time conferences twice a year, but rather to provide parents with the materials and support they need to in order to do devotions with their children all year long. 

“Our church is changing in its makeup – there are a lot of families who have gotten saved later in life, which is a great blessing,” says Meyers.  “But for these families who haven’t grow up in the church, teaching God’s word to their children is not natural.  Even if they know the importance, many people are unsure how to do it.  We want to help families get started.”

And even for parents who have grown up in the church, many are hesitant to begin family devotionals –  either because they’ve never seen a good model, or because they don’t feel like they know enough about the Bible in order to teach their children.  Equipt’s message to parents is that moms and dads don’t need to know everything.  This new ministry is devoted to providing families with resources and creative activities so that they don’t have to do it alone.   
“I think the biggest barrier to families doing devotionals together is their schedules – the business of life,” says Meyers.  “But I know that in our family, if it’s a priority with dad, then it gets done.  He had to carve out the time.  We did ours in the morning, before he left for work.”

For those who do carve out time, Meyers’ family acknowledges that the rewards are great.

“Now I see that our children aren’t afraid to pray in front of one another, and that’s big,” reflects Meyers.  “It’s so powerful as a family to be uniting our hearts before the Lord about one issue.”

Meyers has used Deuteronomy 11:18-19 as foundational verse for the type of learning and instructing we should be doing in our families:
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)

“The whole idea of this verse is that you aren’t supposed to separate when you learn about the Lord and when you don’t,” says Meyers.  “There is a sense in our culture that parents are to leave all the teaching to the professionals – to the school teacher and to the Sunday school teacher.  But the reality is that we should learn to live and walk with the Lord side by side.  It’s a matter of working through difficulties together, being transparent and vulnerable.  I really believe you’re missing a family bond when you don’t slip away like Jesus.  It’s much harder to be in the world without that safe place to come back to.” 

Meyers hopes that the June conference will excite people about moving in this direction, kicking off the ministry with the whole church body.  “Planting God’s Word in Your Kid’s Hearts” will be from 7 – 9 p.m., will cost $10 per family, and will provide light refreshments, solid teaching, and a take-home devotion to get families started.  More details about the conference will be on the website and in the bulletin as the date draws near.