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Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

Youth Ministries

A Strategy for Evangelizing the Post Modern

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By William J. Larkin. Postmodernism is the worldview of the dawning age, the environment forming for twenty-first century civilization. It is the mind-set embodied in the young, playful postmodern M.D. content to practice medicine a limited number of hours at a “Doc in a Box” instead of building up his own practice because he wants “time” to pursue his own interests, his “play.” It is the environment we live in, when, moving at the speed of light, we can experience, at a distance, events in “real time” in a place called “cyber-space,” which is actually nowhere.

This forms a worldview which impacts how we understand and receive the gospel. Indeed, how can we communicate a gospel that is truly “good news” to the postmodern person (or any cultural being for that matter)? We must “exegete” the culture from the inside out. We must interpret the Scriptures at a metacultural level. Then, we must bring the two together in effective gospel communication. After describing the shift to postmodernism, which is occurring all around us-exegeting our culture-and understanding the good news at its most fundamental level, we will illustrate how the two may be brought together.

Exegeting the Culture: Postmodernism

What is postmodernism? Originally, this label applied to a movement in western architecture which moved away from the boxy, modernist, glass and steel functionalism of the first half of the twentieth century to an eclectic, decorative, and more humane style. Since the 1980s, however, it has come to describe a broader cultural shift away from modernism, the worldview characterizing western civilization since the eighteenth century Enlightenment. Though some see postmodernism as modernism reaching its logical extreme, a hyper-modernism, most believe “post” points to a worldview distinct from modernism. Not only is it chronologically “post,” it is “post” in the sense of critique, for it claims to supersede and replace modernism.

So fundamental and comprehensive is the shift postmodernism brings, we must keep in mind certain basic worldview categories if we are to understand what is happening.The postmodern thinker has turned away from modernist views of the nature of the universe and reality and how we relate to them, and the nature of humans, language, and text.Postmodernism is not a passing fad but the dawning age of twenty-first century western civilization. A postmodern environment is not a cultural context of an isolated intellectual elite. It is the cultural context forming around us. Postmodern types of individuals are already walking onto the stage of history. We work and play with them. They may even sit across from us at the dinner table.

Postmodern: The Dawning Age

We know that the postmodern age is the dawning age, when we observe that under the weight of history and experience the “Modernist Project” is collapsing. Themes of the modernist “grand narrative”-this worldview’s explanatory myth of origin, power and destiny-have been discredited. Hence, there is an openness to viewing reality differently.

From Closed to Open. In science for example, postmodernism has demonstrated that we do not live in a self-contained, closed universe where all change is simply a rearrangement of eternally existent phenomena. Rather, we inhabit an open universe which began with a “Big Bang” and is continually expanding to an uncertain end. Will our universe know eternally emergent evolution? Or, is the universe headed for an evitable cold, empty, starless night in which proton decay means matter’s last gasp?

From Totalizing to Deconstruction. Modernism’s reductionistic and totalizing approach to explaining reality involved the penchant for declaring one of its features the basic building block which explained everything. For example, Marx’s materialistic economics of class struggle claimed to explain all events of human history. Yet, experience and history in the twentieth century have discredited one totalizing explanation after another, because when each was given full reign in society, it created the exact opposite of its ideal. Marxism was to bring about the progressive emancipation of labor. That ideal died in the streets of Budapest in 1956, if not before, in Stalin’s purges of the thirties. Indeed, the twentieth century totalitarian regimes of the left and the right, and their attendant atrocities, give evidence that the “Modern Project” has failed to find a basis for morality and society.

From Purpose to Play. Modernism believed in the inevitability of progress, the improvement of all humanity through the advances of capitalist techno-science. A trip to Disney World and the Epcot Center lets you experience this quintessential modern ideal-science and technology meeting all your needs and wants, titillating your senses and firing your imagination.

From Metaphysics to Irony. Sobered by the use of science in the creation of weapons of mass destruction and realizing the potential of scientific advances for evil, as well as good, postmoderns reject the modern belief in the inherent goodness of knowledge. They are not convinced that the progressive emancipation of reason and freedom is humankind’s destiny. This was the German ideal, the most erudite people in the modern western world. And where did that erudition and incarnation of the “inherent goodness of knowledge” reach its climax? In the experiments of Auschwitz. No wonder the postmodern turns from a pursuit of knowledge, which confidently constructs a metaphysic, to a quizzical, if not cynical, exercise in irony.

From Christianity to Spirituality. Though the “Modernist Project” with its closed, self-contained universe and its human-centered ideals of progress and improvement actually has no room for biblical Christianity, still the Christian faith was the dominant religion of modern Europe and North America. The postmodern historical critique casts its penetrating light on modern Christianity. Here is the indictment of Jean-Fran

QUESTIONS?!

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A man in our congregation gave this testimony: He and his wife had visited various churches with their questions. But no one seemed to listen until they began attending a small group where their questions were welcomed.

That experience is not unique. I’ve had questions all my life. And questions lead to deeper questions-often about things viewed as basic, incontrovertible.My daughter, Holly, has always raised questions (maybe it’s in the genes). It hurt her in school. Many, if not most teachers are impatient with questions, possibly threatened by them. I studied under two of the foremost Christian thinkers of the twentieth century. Neither one dealt well with questions-especially ones that might challenge their perspectives. However, there is always the exception. Emily Gray, who is now with the Lord, was one of the most gifted teachers I have known. She taught Holly. And she loved the questions. Unanswered questions don’t go away, especially the ones never raised, never addressed.

A Sunday school teacher once asked class members to name their favorite holiday. A great get acquainted activity. One lady, new to the group, said, “Halloween.” There was a collective gasp. She never returned.Let’s speculate a little. Perhaps a few others in the group identified with the woman’s sentiments. Would they raise a question? Probably not. Would their thinking change? It’s doubtful. Those who disagreed with the group would quietly continue to hold their own ideas. If they discovered enough disagreements they might leave the group and drift away from the church without anyone knowing why.

A number of years ago I taught a senior high class. One Sunday I was talking about how we know we’re Christians and for some reason I locked in on a young man who was a student at an outstanding Christian school and whose parents were faithful in the church. I wanted him to tell me how he knew he was a Christian but the responses were vague at best so I kept pressing him. Finally he said, “I’m not sure I’m a Christian and I’m not sure I want to be.” Could such a question be raised in your setting without that collective gasp? Without a teacher being unnerved?

There are deep-seated differences in this society about politics, education and morality. Many differences exist even in the Christian community. We tend to respond to those differences in one of two ways. Either we identify with groups where virtually everyone thinks like we do, or we bury our questions. Neither is particularly helpful. Our thinking needs to be challenged. Our values, even those we cherish the most, need to be evaluated. Our faith must be examined lest we find ourselves losing that which we claim is most dear.So when the questions come – even the ones with hostile overtones – take them seriously. It could be God’s way of providing answers for all those involved.

Deacons: Leading Churches Into Pure and Undefiled Religion

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The role of deacons is critical to the ministry of the local church. However, for some time it has suffered from a poor image. In reformed circles the office is rightly seen as one of service and helps. But with the growth of church buildings and property, deacons are often viewed more as caretakers of property and less as caretakers of people. I have talked with many deacons in recent years who have confirmed that most of their time is spent on property and repair issues. Alexander Strauch makes this significant comment in his book The New Testament Deacon, “Since the first Christians did not have buildings to maintain, the first deacons were preeminently people helpers and administrators of the church’s charity. They were ministers of mercy.” Which of these two descriptions does the Bible and the Book of Church Order (BCO) teach? Let’s briefly consider this question.

In Luke 22:27 Jesus describes himself as a deacon when He says, “But I am among you as one who serves.” He even demonstrated service in the upper room with the towel and washbasin. His miraculous works were to heal and show mercy to those suffering in body as well as soul. After the resurrection, on the road to Emmaus, His disciples described Jesus with these words, “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” He was the perfect example of a Prophet/Servant. His redemption included the whole person and all of creation. What better incentive could deacons have than to realize that the eternal Son of God saw Himself as a deacon in the service of His heavenly Father. Nothing could bring higher esteem to the office.

BCO 9-1 says that the office of deacon is one of sympathy and service. This obviously places the significance of the office in ministry to people. In the introduction to Tim Keller’s Resources for Deacons, George Fuller says, “The office of deacon is a high calling under Jesus Christ. It is not a training ground for elders, although some deacons later become elders. It is not a secondary office; it is not unimportant. It is absolutely critical to the life of the church, in spite of often being ignored.” The last phrase of BCO 9-1 describes the office in these words, “it expresses also the communion of saints, especially in their helping one another in time of need.” This description of the office is in line with the sentiments of The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXVI, 1-2, on the Communion of the Saints. Deacons are called to lead the whole church in mercy ministry.

Within in the PCA, mercy ministry has taken on a rather high profile in the last several years. This has been partly due to several conferences organized by the Committee on Christian Education and Publications. The most recent conference in March 2001 was jointly sponsored by CE/P and Mission to North America. Almost six hundred people attended; only ninety-five were deacons. It seems there needs to be an awakening among pastors and deacons regarding the diaconal role in mercy ministry.

One clear wake-up call comes from BCO 9-2 where the duties of the office are described as follows:

  1. Minister to those in need, sick, friendless, and any in distress.

  2. Develop the grace of liberality in members.

  3. Devise methods of collecting gifts and distribute these gifts among objects to which they were contributed.

  4. Have care of property, and keep in proper repair.

This list of duties demonstrates again that the primary focus of deacons is ministry to people, and that property takes a secondary place. Whether you believe the seven in Acts 6 were actually the first deacons or were just the prototype of what was to follow, it is clear that they were chosen for ministry-to help the widows.

Finally, BCO 9-7 reads, “It is often expedient that the Session of a church should select and appoint godly men and women of the congregation to assist the deacons in caring for the sick, the widows, the orphans, the prisoners, and others who may be in any distress or need.” Deacons are to be out front, leading and overseeing the work of mercy ministry in the local church. It is a mistake to assign mercy ministry primarily to a team outside the diaconate. This will only reinforce the image of deacons as primarily groundkeepers and building maintenance workers.

James 1:27 says, “Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” The words “to look after” are a good description of the importance of mercy ministry and the role of deacons. Many deacons may need to revisit their call and even be retrained to fulfill the role and responsibilities of that call. This review will help correct the way the congregation sees the office and will encourage the deacons in their ministry. Then they will be able to experience what Paul wrote in I Timothy 3:13, “Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”

When Mercy Falls Through the Cracks

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It should not be unusual for Christians to be actively concerned and involved with those around us. Our Savior lived and taught the ministry of mercy throughout His life. But, though many of our people have been “moved with compassion” (Mt. 9:36), not all of our churches have focused their organization and resources on showing mercy. A church-based mercy ministry benefits not only those who receive help but also those who show mercy by blessing them with the heart of Christ for a needy world. At Chapelgate Presbyterian Church we have rebuilt our corporate mercy ministry to work more effectively throughout our whole congregation. We hope other churches will be encouraged to join us in the quest to discover a deeper passion for mercy and develop better methods and tools for managing mercy ministries.

How Growth Fragmented Ministry

Several years ago, there were all kinds of bright spots in the Caring Ministry at Chapelgate Presbyterian Church, but nothing connected these good efforts into an effective safety net. No matter how many persons’ needs were met, too many others were falling through the cracks. Chapelgate had had a long history of faithful servants extending the love of our Lord Jesus Christ to others. But as our membership grew larger, busier, and more spread out geographically, old communication and collaboration channels broke down. Even our deacons were being asked to focus on church maintenance concerns and the problems of accommodating our growing numbers, rather than their biblical calling to service and mercy.

As Chapelgate’s mercy ministry became less effective, a great number of independent para-church ministries sprang up among our members. These good-hearted but isolated ministries did not communicate well with each other. They duplicated each other’s efforts and sometimes stepped on each other’s toes. Often people in need of help did not know that these ministries even existed. Under these conditions, the task of overseeing the pastoral care, mercy, and service needs of our congregation of 1500 members was overwhelming. There seemed to be a huge black hole of never-ending needs into which enormous efforts by disassociated caregivers disappeared. Results were haphazard. After studying our situation, we decided we could coordinate our various caring and mercy ministries by addressing three issues: Communication, Cooperation/Collaboration, and Encouragement.

Communication

Problem. Whether a particular need was made known to a pastor, church member, or receptionist, there was no guarantee that the right people would get the information so that they could address the need in an appropriate, timely, and consistent fashion. Thus, though we were sometimes thorough, other times the people in charge of filling the needs were unaware of them until it was too late. For example, in one instance we might handle a death in the family of one of our members with great care and attention, but another grieving family might only receive acknowledgement in the bulletin.

Process Solution. It was necessary to change our procedures for receiving and processing information about needs. We established a full-time Caring Coordinator position so that one person receives all information about needs in the congregation and the community. No matter where the information originates, the congregation and staff know they must contact the Caring Coordinator immediately as a first step toward meeting the need. As simple as this sounds, having just one person (and one computer system) process all requests dramatically improves the consistency of our care giving.

It took time and constant reminders to re-train the congregation to call or email the Caring Office, but soon everyone began to notice the benefits of having a central clearing house where information can be obtained on any ministry in process. We call the organization of all our pastoral care and mercy ministries our Caring Umbrella. Our caring and mercy ministries form a big circle, like an umbrella with spokes radiating from a center point (the Caring Office) out to the edge of a big protective canopy that shelters the lives of those in our community. The ministries operate interdependently, through the network provided by the Caring Office, which is composed of the Caring Coordinator, a pastor, and the Pastoral Care Management System “ShepherdWorks.” Information about needs flows not only up and down the spokes, but also in a collaborative fashion between the different ministries that make up the fabric of the Caring Umbrella.

ShepherdWorks Solution. While appointing a Caring Coordinator helped untangle the inconsistencies in our care delivery, we still needed a computerized Pastoral Care Management System to facilitate caring coordination. We needed a central repository of information about the resources of all the different mercy ministries (the people who were providing care, their skills, the goods and services they had and the ones they needed, etc.) and the demands that were placed on these resources. After a few false starts with a simple home-grown database, we saw that it would take a more sophisticated system to manage the day-to-day operations of our network of mercy ministries.

After conducting an exhaustive search of available software programs for pastoral care management, we realized that we would have to design and develop our own application to provide our mercy ministries with the requisite functionality. ShepherdWorks, the result of several years of development, is designed for both small and large churches. It can augment the work of a full-time Caring Coordinator, but it can also empower other staff or volunteers to perform caring coordination.

Moreover, ShepherdWorks will support many concurrent ministry users. It will be accessible through the World-Wide Web over the Internet, making it possible for mercy ministry workers, church staff, pastors, deacons and elders to collect, organize and maintain mercy information from anywhere in the world through a standard Web browser on an ordinary computer with an Internet connection. Participating churches and mercy organizations create, modify, store and retrieve their data over the Internet in a completely secure environment without having to purchase any software or maintain an expensive and complicated computer network infrastructure. ShepherdWorks will bring to faith-based organizations tools that promote communication, collaboration and coordination hitherto only available to corporate enterprises, but at a fraction of the cost.

Cooperation/Collaboration (Networking)

Problem. We found that some of our ministries were trying to handle problems that were addressed more appropriately by some other ministry. For example, if a caregiver delivered a meal and discovered a transportation problem, he might try on his own to find someone to repair the car instead of referring the matter to the transportation ministry.Essentially, we were faced with the kinds of needs that represent the challenge of collaboration in many group efforts. How do we:

  • find the right persons to perform a particular job?

  • inform others about problems and potential solutions?

  • monitor the current status of a problem-solving effort?

  • determine who tackled a particular problem and what exactly was done?

  • capture past experience in dealing with problems so we can apply the acquired knowledge to future cases?

Process Solution. The Caring Office has established and maintains a network among our various ministries to eliminate redundancy. The Coordinator has been able to foster cooperation between the various ministries so that each one works on the part of a problem that relates to its ministry, yet in concert with all those involved. Caregivers avoid frustration and the time they invest brings greater tangible results.

ShepherdWorks Solution. ShepherdWorks will offer a plethora of features that provide our ministries with the following collaborative functionality: shared content (ministry documents and discussions maintained in a central location, document revisions/versions tracked); shared sense of time (group calendars and Gantt charts capture task assignments, project milestones and meeting schedules; real-time, on-line awareness and chat facilities allow instant contact among ministry staff; automatic email notification); shared workflow (process management tools monitor status and control the orderly completion of tasks within a ministry project); shared knowledge (ad hoc processes may be captured and re-used in future projects).ShepherdWorks empowers mercy ministry staff to work together, exchange information, ask questions, find answers, and perform complex tasks with accountability as individuals and as members of teams.

Encouragement

Problem. Ministry leaders were often overwhelmed by the number of people under their personal care. Even when they felt equal to the needs they were serving, they felt they were working in a vacuum, unsupported and unacknowledged, without feedback from the church.

Solution. The Caring Team makes sure that our ministry leaders know they are not working alone, and that they are not required to meet all the needs of an individual or family. Our ministries provide great encouragement to one another as they work together to resolve a need. In particular, we support and encourage our shepherding elders and deacons by letting the congregation know that shepherding takes place when all the different ministries work together in concert with the oversight of an elder and deacon. No elder or his deacon counterpart can meet all the needs of those under his care. False expectations of shepherding can occur when the person being cared for assumes that one caregiver possesses all the gifts and resources to meet his need. The Caring Coordinator can explain that he must allow others to provide appropriate care for him in the name of Christ and His under shepherds. Now when a ministry is detailed to help a family, the elder is in continual communication, through the Caring Coordinator, concerning what is taking place in the life of those under his care. As the shepherding elders and deacons are kept abreast of a particular situation, they can come alongside their charge in appropriate and timely ways.

Blessings of a Well-Organized Mercy Ministry

In addition to all the benefits described above, the records of the Caring Coordinator and ShepherdWorks save us from having to reinvent the wheel. Good reporting and feedback provide the information needed to design a workflow path that can be used the next time a similar situation presents itself. Capturing the workflow and expertise of skilled caregivers enables us to maintain the same level of care even when we lose an expert caregiver for some reason.As we have organized our corporate mercy ministry, we have maximized the effectiveness. Enabling our members to more effectively express Christ’s love to our neighbors will be the true measure of a successful mercy ministry.

Serving in the Church: Prison Term or Delight?

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At the conclusion of a training conference a man said to me, “I’m the Sunday school superintendent at my church. I came today ready to quit. But I’m leaving ready to try again.”

Prison Term?
So many in the church are burned out because they don’t feel appreciated, they don’t quite understand what they are supposed to do, or they feel ill equipped to do the job they have been given.Let’s suppose a church needs a middle school teacher. Those responsible for filling the position review the membership list looking for possible candidates. People who have done the job before are seen as good possibilities. Approached, in turn, they give answers like, “Can’t you find somebody younger?” “I’ve had my turn” or (I’ve actually heard it) “I’ve done my time.” Being a teacher in the church is a little like being in jail – once you get out you don’t want to go back.Add to that the time squeeze so many feel. “If I don’t enjoy it, if it’s not important I don’t want to spend my time on it.”

So, it’s back to the drawing board. Someone stumbles over a name that’s been missed. Maybe she would do it. She’s asked, and assured, “It won’t take much time.” She says she will pray about it.She says “yes,” and after a bit of rejoicing she’s given a book. “This is what the group is studying. You’ll have everything you need right here. Oh, and by the way, they meet down the hall on the right.” She’s just had her training.

I don’t believe she (or most people) takes on work at the church with the idea she will do a lousy job. But as she looks over the materials, she feels a bit uncomfortable. She’d like to know more about the passage. She has never tried the suggested activities. Could she actually get them to do a role-play? Having done her best to prepare, she makes her way to the classroom. Her students just sit there as if they are saying, “I dare you to reach me.” After a few weeks she wonders, “What am I doing here?” If she’s really dedicated she’ll fulfill her commitment before she resolves never to get involved in anything like that again.

Delight?
Volunteering in your church’s educational or women’s ministry doesn’t have to be a prison term. CE/P has three groups of trainers that can help you recapture your vision, supplement your efforts to encourage your co-laborers, and help set up a means for ongoing support.To be challenged with the importance of your ministry is paramount. To become proficient in conducting that ministry is equally important. To learn to believe that God will make changes in all those involved – building up his body – is a great test of faith. To see it happen will be a delight.

Regional Trainers/Consultants
The thirteen men and women in this group offer seminars for teachers covering three basic areas: what you teach, who you teach, and how you teach. There are fifteen workshops to choose from including a presentation of the PCA Sunday School curriculum, published by Great Commission Publications. Some churches have a trainer come in every year.This group will also work with Christian education committees and others charged with the responsibility for establishing, executing, and evaluating the church’s discipling ministries.

Youth Trainers
With over eighty years of combined youth ministry experience, Regional Youth Trainers offer excellent wisdom to people called by God to help students come to know Christ and grow deeply in Him. Through workshops like “On-Purpose Youth Ministry,” “Helping Parents Embrace Youth Ministry,” “Thriving as a Volunteer,” and “Group Dynamics for the Youth Group,” these youth pastors can equip, evaluate and encourage both paid staff and volunteers involved in youth ministry at your church. Prayerfully consider having a Regional Youth Trainer come to your church and enhance the ministry to youth there, to God’s Glory and to the good of the youth and youth team at your church.

Women’s Ministry Trainers
Since the PCA’ s beginning, CE&P has provided training support for local congregations in organizing ministries to edify and equip women. Now a national network of ten trainers – joining with the teacher and youth network – are available to come to your church or PresWIC to work directly with your leadership team. Their assignment will be:

To teach women a biblical perspective of their relationships with Christ, family, and church.

To challenge women to fulfill their helper design.

To help women examine the implications of the covenant in their relationships.

To train women to cultivate community by obeying the Titus mandate to nurture one another for God’s glory.

To train women to be channels of compassion by obeying the Micah mandate.

To equip women for leadership roles in the women’s ministry of the church.

We hope that your church will join hands with us at CE&P in the all important task of discipling God’s covenant family-raising up men, women and children to love and serve God with their whole heart and mind.



Covenant “Stones of Passage” Making the Events Special

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By Brad Winsted. Points of remembrance or ebenezer stones, which recall God’s mercy and sustaining power (Joshua 4), are important reminders of growing up with the Lord. After all, our God is a communicating God, a God of promises, a covenantal God who has established a sacred, eternal relationship with His called ones, whom He has guaranteed and confirmed by His Son’s death on the cross. Sadly in our society children and young people are often at a loss to see God’s hand in anything. Growing up in a culture with temporal and fleeting qualities they long to refer to and identify with meaningful points on the timeline of life.

Even in reformed churches we are losing our young people in droves when they graduate from high school because they see no relevance in their communicant vows. In many of our churches the youth group has taken the place of the church; our young people’s faith and service is intertwined with the friendships and commitments made there. Their identity as Christians is often seen through the prism of the youth leader and the activities of this separated subgroup of the church. It is easy to understand why. When the young person looks ahead after his youth group experience, he sees little relevance to his “parents’ church.”

Becoming an adult in our postmodern society is now related more to secular memory stones or rites of passage such as obtaining a driver’s license, graduating from high school, reaching legal drinking age (or attaining some other age-related privilege like legally smoking or seeing an “R” rated movie with out borrowing someone else’s ID) and sometimes even having physical relationships with the opposite sex. Biblically speaking these are all false signs of maturity. None of them demonstrates doing away with “childish things” and becoming a mature member of the household of faith. In this article I would like to explore some things that many of our reformed churches are doing, or could do, to give our young people a true sense of being whole in Christ, approved workmen who do not need to be ashamed.

At a Christian education conference I recently attended, a pastor shared a new tradition his church was instituting. When parents present their child for baptism before God and the congregation, the father is asked if he will offer a prayerful blessing in the child’s behalf. What a wonderful memory this would make if someone would write out the father’s prayer and frame it with a picture to hang in the baby’s room. I am often impressed when I enter a home and see family pictures displayed on the walls or in albums. These are especially meaningful if the photos show the family doing things together that inspire memories.

We all know the statistics. The millennial or bridger generation is very likely to be the least Christian ever (around 5 percent), fragmented, unsure of what they believe in, longing for permanent relationships (which they never saw growing up), and scared. Scared of everything getting worse, of another divorce, another suicide-attempt, another stepfather or stepbrother to become acquainted with, losing another job, or being replaced by another person. How can we give this generation within our reformed churches the memory stones and the rites of passages that mark their maturity to Christian adulthood? Here are some ideas compatible with our worldview.

Prepare the parents

Most parents did not grow up in homes where a covenantal worldview was clearly expressed, let alone lived out. Jonathan Edwards, the great American Presbyterian of our early history, called homes “little churches” where the essence of our Christianity is worked out. He stressed that “family education and [family] order are the chief means of grace. If these fail, all other means are likely to prove ineffective. [However] if these are duly maintained, all means of grace are likely to prosper and be effective.”

I believe one of the most enlightening and effective ways to grow our children up in the faith and instill in them lasting faith, bold prayers, and confidence in God’s faithful leading, is the family altar. Here is where the rubber meets the road. Here is where the father is a daily, living example of Christ’s love. Here is where the priest of the home builds the living stones of faith. Here is where questions can be asked and answers given. If we leave it to the “professionals” on Sunday then our children will quickly conclude that Christianity is a Sunday thing and relegate it to insignificance. But we as parents are pulled in so many directions! How can we ever have family devotions and prayer? Something must give, and it might have to be a small group, sports activity, television, the internet, or many other “good” things that are not growing our children up to walk in the footsteps of Christ.

The church must provide models for questioning parents. Fathers must be challenged from the pulpit and mentored by the session. If we want mature, motivated Christian young people then we must have mature, motivated parents. Paying youth leaders to do the work is shortsighted at best. Mature, functioning families are a clear beacon in this fragmented age. The church must be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Challenge our children to grow in grace and knowledge

Christ grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men (and don’t forget that he was in “obedience” to his parents), Luke 2:51-52. Timothy (Paul’s prodigy), continued in what his mother and grandmother taught him and “from infancy” knew the holy Scriptures, which were able to make him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:14-15)

Some memory stones and rites of passages for our young people can be knowledge of the Scriptures, memorization of the Catechism for Young Children (to help them understand the basics and distinctives of their faith), and finally true covenantal training to prepare them for communicant membership in the church. I will expand on that point in the next section.

Do our children know the origin of their names? God places more significance on names than we do. The names He uses for Himself in scripture could be studied for a lifetime. One of the signs of Adam’s dominion over the animal kingdom was the privilege he was granted in naming the animals. When Zechariah named John the Baptist it was a tremendous event because he chose a name from outside the family. The stories in Scripture abound with the names covenant parents chose for their children. Yet today we do not challenge our children to live up to the biblical, historical, or familial meaning of their names. A child’s thorough understanding of the origin, meaning, and challenge of his name can be an exciting stone of remembrance in his life.

Celebrate communicant membership day

This event is different from church to church, yet I have never seen it used in a fashion that would truly grow the child up in Christ. This true, biblical rite of passage is often a perfunctory meeting with the elders and a few minutes at a worship service in which the young person is just one in a crowd. What a great opportunity to build and strengthen covenant families! Here are some suggestions to make this event a springboard to maturity and involvement.

The father would train the child in the basics of the faith (again, if the child has learned the catechism this will be immeasurably easier). The pastor could provide an outline. Both child and parent would greatly benefit. The father and mother would determine when the child is ready to go before the elders. The child would understand that becoming a communicant member involves saying publicly that he knows he is a sinner, knows he needs a Savior, knows that Savior is Christ, and now can serve the church through the grace afforded him by his salvation (sanctification). As part of the communicant training the church and parents could explore the unique gifts their children have that can be used in ministry.

When the day to receive the young communicant into the congregation arrives, the worship service could be modified (I recommend conducting a separate service if we are really convinced that this should be a special covenant rite of passage) to have the parents participate with a covenant blessing for their child, for members of the congregation to tell how they have been blessed by the child, for special words of encouragement to be given to the young adult about how he should serve the Lord with his gifts. The pastor could have a special blessing. A reception could follow the service. A special item of remembrance could be prepared, such as a record of the parents’ and pastor’s prayers, a picture of the event, and letters of encouragement and exhortation.

Part of the final preparation to receive the young person into the congregation should be a well-thought out plan for how this child will minister in the church with the unique gifts God has given him. I’m convinced that one of the reasons we lose our young people to the world is that they do not see a place to minister in the church. Teaching, music, missions-there are many places where their talents could be readily used.

Present a courtship ring of sexual purity

Our society has gone sex-mad and our covenant children have been caught up in the madness. One example of this is “recreational dating” in which inappropriate emotional and physical relationships prepare the young person for break-up (and later divorce). Wouldn’t it be great if our children’s high school friends were praying partners and true friends so they would not have to experience dissolved relationships because of the shame that they committed towards one another?

One way to anchor the child’s heart is to present him or her with a covenant courtship ring (or pendant) that pledges that the parents will be involved in choosing a life partner, and that the young person will guard his or her heart (which can be crushed just as savagely by inappropriate emotional relationships as by physical relationships) and purity of body until marriage.

We must stop the tide of moral relativism and immorality in our culture. Parents must raise chaste children, who see sexual purity as a gift for the wedding bed, and enjoy life-long friendships with true sisters and brothers in Christ, unmarred by sexual fantasies and immoral thought lives. The American way of dating is a minefield of immorality and danger; we must counter it with a Godly commitment to biblical courtship.

Commemorate graduation

A key point in young people’s passage is their graduation from high school. Instead of leaving it to the local school (parochial or government) to decide the most important charge to give our covenant children, why not plan our own Special Day of Remembrance? Here are some ideas.

Arrange for a Christian who has truly impacted the young person’s life (relative, pastor, coach, or mentor) to be the main speaker. Have other adults and peers comment and exhort. Let the young person speak a word of thanksgiving to his or her parents, church leaders, other adults, and friends, truly glorifying God by thanking Him for the grace that has led him or her to this place (a true ebenezer-hither by Thy help I’ve come). Give gifts that have personalized meanings, not another five-dollar bottle of cologne or perfume. Include special music performed by friends of the graduate, or even by the graduate. There are many other ways to make this transition a special moment rather than a cookie-cutter imitation of the secular culture.

These are some suggestions for how we can truly impact our covenant children’s lives. We must be prepared with a plan for them or the world will supply one that could easily take them down the road to destruction. Our society will not set biblical “rites of passage” for our covenant children. We can do this by integrating home and church into a tradition of hope in the darkness around us.

Questions for discussion:

1. If we believe that we are to pass the faith on to the next generation, what kind of things are we doing in our church to obey that biblical mandate?

2. What does our church do to communicate our desire and intention to work with the parents to pass on the truth of God to the younger generation?

3. Discuss the suggestions of the article with this question in mind: What can we do to make covenant baptism and public profession of faith (joining the church) a more meaningful experience?

4. What are we doing in our church to help strengthen the homes of the congregation, particularly in helping the parents with their role? (See Training Hearts, Teaching Minds in the book review section.)

5. What role do the parents in our church play in determining when a covenant child is ready for a pubic profession of faith in Christ?