This research aims to explore family ministry from the perspective of the church – deliberately and persistently reorganizing a. And Paul, in Ephesians, exhorts fathers to teach their children in their fear and instruction. In the case where man and woman are one flesh (Ephesians 5:31), this mystery is revealed in the marriage covenant; in the case of father and child, the father's power over his child exerts an influence that carries a heavy association whether positive or negative in nature (Wood 1981, 81).
Education must be central to the life of the individual and the family (Dumbrell 2002, 59). However, in the church cell group, the life that was often missing was the life of the child (Baron). The call is therefore to develop a biblical worldview in the minds of the children of Christians.
In addition to the telephone interviews, three of the churches were selected for the case study. The first phase of the study involved putting together a panel of experts in family service. Six of the churches identified with the family integrated church model (FIC) as defined by the researcher, 5 of the churches identified with the family equipping model (FEM) as defined by the researcher, and 1 church identified itself as a family-based church (FBM).
Parents and Particularly Fathers
Although there were some relationships that showed no correlation between the two variables of perception and behavior, the data show that there is a relationship between parents' perceptions and their practices. The only two perceptions that did not have any correlation with behaviors were (1)
Prioritization of Family Devotions
Interestingly, there was stronger agreement with the statement "I prioritize consistent family devotional or worship times in my family's schedule" among respondents who claim to have 3 or more children at home. This is demonstrated in Figure A1 (Appendix 8) below, where P1 represents perception 1, or question 1 of the survey instrument, and the frequency represents the frequency of all behaviors. Although there appears to be no difference in responses between male and female respondents regarding agreement with the statement, "I prioritize consistent family devotional or worship times in my family's schedule," when responding to the statement, "Parents and especially fathers—have a responsibility to personally engage in a discipleship process with each of their children,” fell the male responses.
For those respondents who stated that they are currently too busy for devotions or family reading of the Bible, the frequency of the evaluated behaviors was lower. This supports the reality of their situation, they want more because reality offers them little, if anything. It could be argued that those respondents who indicated that they agree with the statement: “I would like to do regular family devotions or read the Bible at home, but my family is too busy for that right now.
It will probably be like this for quite some time," they actually have a desire to do what is right when it comes to the spiritual life of their family members. Identifying the reasons or distractions could prove to be one way to help families overcome the strengthening of family faith.
Children Learning in the Church
Answering Children’s Spontaneous Questions
Each church, while using some of the practices below, did so in the context of their own congregation. Some of the churches include these sheets in the bulletins and others have them available in the back of the sanctuary. The bringers are placed in the bulletins for parents to see and take with them at the end of the service.
Seven of the churches provide regular, specific training for the men in the congregation, whether fathers or not. In the churches that participated in the study, the pastor regularly met with the men of the. Preaching and the Power of the Pulpit Ministry Although this section appears last in the list of practices that the .
Some of the churches that participated in the study expected the parents to practice domestic family devotions twice a day. One individual outlined some of the practices that were the first taste of the family integrated church practices for the researcher. A weakness in the quantitative phase of the study was that the attitudes of the parents could not be measured.
The same concern can be expressed with regard to the children and young people of the families. A second weakness in the qualitative phase of the research can be seen in the case study approach. The following questions focused on collecting and analyzing the data for the study.
These churches want to change the lives of families in the church for the sake of the kingdom of God. And the strength of families will join the strength of the church. In the quantitative phase of the study, the research was limited to the objective answers of the parents.
This research does not provide a longitudinal observation of the process of training or embedding in the culture of the church.
