The guide is for families and churches to give you some reasurrance before you start to talk about faith in the home.
Reassurance before starting
Whatever a parent’s/carer’s level of knowledge, there are some important points to recognise at the start.
- Get started: It is never too late to start exploring, discussing and living out faith in the home.
- Flexibility: There is no set or right way to live out faith in the home. Flexibility is a key aspect. What works for one family will not be right for another. It is important to work out what works best for you.
- Build in: Families need not add pressure to their already busy lives by creating numerous additional hours every week. It is possible to build faith into the everyday activities that they already do.
- Learn together: Adults do not have to know all the answers. It is more important to be on a journey together as a family. People may all be at different stages but will enjoy the opportunity to explore, discuss and learn about faith together.
- No judgement: It is not about success and failure, or about measuring levels of faith. Faith is an ongoing learning experience throughout life.
- Include others: Faith in the home is not necessarily restricted to those living under the same roof but can also include the extended family, friends and the wider church. For those in a church setting, inviting those who are single, divorced and widowed offers a richness of experience and enables important relationships to be established. This may be even more beneficial if a family does not have close or easy contact with their relatives.
- Have fun! Whatever the family’s preferences and learning styles, one of the key aspects is enjoyment. It is worth taking time to find out what works best for a family, taking into consideration ages, time and budget available. Be flexible and adapt as the seasons of family life change.
Let us know if you’ve got any thoughts, ideas or questions about this topic. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
