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Perspectives on Family Ministry: Three Views ReviewCONTENT
"Perspectives on Family Ministry," by Paul Renfro, Brandon Shields, and Jay Strother, is a cordial debate contrasting three models of ministry - family-intergrated, family-based, and family-equipping. The Perspectives series mirrors the format of the similar Counterpoint series by Zondervan, but with a Baptist publisher and Baptist contributors.
Part one, "Why Every Church Needs Family Ministry," addresses the importance of parenting, a brief review of the development of the history of youth ministry, a definition of family ministry, and an overview of the methodological distinctives of the three views. It defines family ministry as "the process of intentionally and persistently realigning a congregation's proclamation and practices so that parents are acknowledged, trained, and held accountable as the person primarily responsible for the discipleship of their children" (Jones 40). Some of their stated assumptions are that "Scripture is the supreme and sufficient standard for how to do ministry," "God has called parents-and especially fathers - to take personal responsibility for the Christian formation of their children," and "The generations need one another."
Part two, "How Churches are Doing Family Ministry," describes in detail what each model looks like and explains its theological or practical basis. Each contributor has about 25 pages to define and defend his model, which is followed by a 10-15 page response section by the other contributors, which is followed by an 8 page final defense by the original contributor.
Family-integrated ministry is defined by its integration of all age groups in worship and teaching and its rejection of age-segregated ministry. Its secondary focus is that of the home as the primary location of discipleship and evangelism. Using the cultural background of Hebrew life, Biblical mandates to "train your children" are used to support the idea that God wants the training of children and family worship to happen in the home (as opposed to the church or synagogue or a school). The most significant critiques against the model are that the emphasis on parents' roles makes it difficult to reach children in non-Christian homes, it is overly separatist from culture, and it is only embraced by one demographic - the two-parent, Christian, home schooling family.
Family-based ministry maintains age-segregated ministry, such as youth group or children's church, but they also include intergenerational activities and family events. In this way, it attempts to keep the benefits to targeting specific age-groups with developmentally-appropriate training while still addressing the Biblical need to equip families and promote unity amongst the generations. Using the tools relevant to contemporary culture, it attempts to be evangelistic in reaching the unchurched and those outside of Christian culture or influence. The most significant critiques against this model are that it does not go far enough to systematically and regularly equip parents, it simply adds more events to families' busy schedules, and it is too focused on cultural relevance and event-based ministry.
"Family-equipping churches retain some age-organized ministries but restructure the congregation to partner with parents at every level of ministry..." (144). In doing so, this model attempts to systematically equip and train parents to disciple their children at home. The responsibility of the church is to develop a comprehensive plan for a child's spiritual formation and to encourage parents to take up this responsibility. The most significant critiques against this model are that age-organized events still demand more time away from the parents and that there is no proven need to change from the professional, programmatic way of doing ministry.
CRITIQUE
I found part one to a very informative part of this volume. In contrast with many introduction to the argument, this section was in-depth, thoughtful, and useful. Having only read part one, I was able to understand the big picture for why this was even a significant issue for the church today. Without the historical component, for instance, I would never have thought about the "invention of adolescence" as a relatively new part of society. Without the definitions or assumptions clearly stated, it would have been difficult for the contributors to communicate without unfairly attacking each other.
Part two was very useful as it requires the reader to think through the different positions. Reading the chapter on family-integration was an important start, because it is the only position to attempt to create a Biblical theology that supports its model. Doing so made me think through the contexts for Deut 6, Ps 78, and Eph 6. What the method what God was commanding, or was it the end result? Was the edict given to fathers because teachers should not have that role or because mothers were not equipped? It would be unfair to conclude that the only divinely-sanctioned method of passing on the history of what God has done is for dads to tell their kids. But it would also be unfair to conclude that God did not intend for the primary place of spiritual training to be the home, not the temple.
The chapter on family-based churches was a useful contrast reminding me of why age-segmented ministries were formed in the first place - to reach the unreached youth of America on their turf. It also reminded me to challenge given statistics, as they can be misrepresented. But this model failed to answer its critiques and was found lacking in its claims that 1) there is no need to change from program-driven, age-segmented ministries and 2) that random parenting classes or intergenerational events are sufficient to fulfill the Biblical mandates.
The chapter of family-equipping ministry was the most balanced model in terms of implementation and Biblical value, and the critiques against it were the weakest. (This author was also the most gracious in critiquing his peers.) The family-equipping models seems to be the one that would work within the context of most current church set ups while gradually transforming the values of the church to be more home-based and parent-based. This chapter includes a useful example from the author's home church as to how the purposes of the church and values of family ministry are integrated into age-segmented ministries. Clearly, this specific church model would not work for every church, but it serves as a framework for adaptation.
I would recommend that Perspectives on Family Ministry, by Paul Renfro, Brandon Shields, and Jay Strother, be read by children's ministers, youth ministers, and senior pastors. "Family ministry" is becoming a bit faddish, and the term is being used by different groups without clarifying their purpose or intention. Pastors must be aware of the different uses of the term by different groups so that they can understand the appeal of D6, Think Orange, and other conferences or ministry models. Even though "Perspectives on Family Ministry" is a Baptist publication, there is no current parallel resource on the market, even from Zondervan. To engage in a thoughtful debate between different models of family ministry, one must think through the positions represented by the contributors here.
- J. Foster
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