Becoming A Faith At Home Focused Church

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Becoming A Faith At Home Focused Church

• Mark A. Holmen

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Significant Religious Influences Survey

• Male Female
• Mother 81 74
• Father 61 50
• Pastor 57 44
• Grandparent 30 29
• Sunday School 26 26
• Youth Group 24 25
• Church Camp 20 28
• Retreats 11 17

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A Paradigm Shift Is Happening!
If youre not doing family ministry youre not
doing youth ministry. Tom Schultz
Group Publishing
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A Paradigm Shift Is Happening!
As the family goes so goes the future of the
church. Religious life in the home is more
influential than the church. Dr. Peter Benson,
Search Institute
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New York Times, 10/6/06

• Evangelical Christian leaders are warning one
  another that their teenagers are abandoning the
  faith in droves in spite of packed megachurches.
• At an unusual series of leadership meetings in 44
  cities this fall, more than 6,000 pastors are
  hearing dire forecasts from some of the biggest
  names in the conservative evangelical movement.
• Their alarm has been stoked by a claim that if
  current trends continue, only 4 percent of
  teenagers will be Bible-believing Christians as
  adults. That would be a sharp decline compared
  with 35 percent of the current generation of baby
  boomers, and before that, 65 percent of the World
  War II generation.

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The churchs role is to be equippers of
families. What we ought to do is let the kids
drop their parents off at church, train the
parents and send them back into their mission
field, their home, to grow Christians. Dr.
Roland Martinson, Luther Seminary
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One of the greatest existing challenges facing
the church is to determine how we can equip the
home to be the primary place where faith is
nurtured through our existing ministry
structures. Mark Holmen, Building Faith At Home
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Two Approaches

• Add-A-Silo
• Integrated Becoming A Church OF Family
  Ministry Or Faith At Home Focused Church

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Becoming a Faith At Home Focused Church

• Establish the partnership early.
• Birth
• Dedication/Infant Baptism
• One Year Anniversary
• Nursery Parenting Classes
• Nursery Family Small Groups

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Becoming a Faith At Home Focused Church Through
Sunday School

• Take It Home Events
• One Sunday per year.
• The event itself
• Motivate
• Model
• Practice
• Provide
• My Bible TIH Event

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Becoming a Faith At Home Focused Church Through
Youth Ministry

• Both/And/And Approach
• DKSS Retreat

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Becoming a Faith At Home Focused Church Through
Adult Ministry

• Get all ministries involved
• Mens Ministry
• Womens Ministry
• Seniors Ministry How To Be A Meddling
  Grandparent
• Worship Take It Homework

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Process/Application Time

• Turn to the Take It Home Events pages in your
  handout for examples.

• Which of these could work in your ministry
  environment?
• What additional ideas would you have for a Take
  It Home Event?

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The Keys to Becoming a Faith At Home Focused
Church

• Language Matters
• The critical role of the Sr. Pastor.
• It must be a part of the strategy of the church.
• Where Your Treasure Is commitment.
• Give it time.

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Answering The Most Commonly Asked Question

• Can one event a year really make a difference?

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Resources To Help You