It takes the whole church to raise a child

After a delicious breakfast, we had a great morning with Mel Lacy on how the whole church needs to be involved in raising children to love and follow the Lord Jesus.
If you missed it, here are some of the main ideas and practical suggestions I came away with.

1. It is essential that we teach the next generation 'the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done' (Psalm 78:4) so that they will 'set their hope in the Lord' (Psalm 78:6). There is nothing more important for a child (or an adult) than that they know and love the Lord Jesus, and so have eternal life.
2. We fail to do this if we keep quiet, if our actions are inconsistent with our words, if our Christianity is confined to Sundays, if we teach Christianised morality or simply use the Bible as a series of character studies. We must teach about Jesus because God's character and acts are most clearly displayed in him, and it's only by knowing him that we become children of God.
3. The main responsibility for teaching & discipling children in the faith of Jesus lies with parents, not youth & children's leaders. The recent church practise of employing youth & children's leaders and the secular practise of farming children out to nurseries etc. has sometimes led to parents being inadvertently displaced by 'expert' paid Y&C workers. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). Parents cannot expect the church to do the work that is properly thiers.
4. Nevertheless, the church family does have a responsibility to be involved in helping parents and children to grow in their love of Jesus. This needs to be done by focusing on family ministy, not just Y&C ministry i.e. supporting marriage, teaching Christian parenting, equipping parents to bring up their children in the love of Christ.
5. The church is the body of Christ made up of all sorts of people - all ages, backgrounds, married, single etc. We need to be what we are and work together in mutual help & encouragement.

Now for some practical suggestions. No church will be able to do all of these, and not all will be appropriate for every church, but our church council will certainly be looking to implement some of them!

1. Encourage parents of younger children to be involved (from time to time) in groups for older children to prepare for the next stage.
2. Use a common syllabus in teaching all ages (this is very hard!).
3. Teach specific groups e.g. being a Christian Dad/Father, Mum/Wife. 
4. Get families linked up in triplets to share experience, discuss problems, share meals (or even holidays!), develop strong relationships, pray for each other, model godliness etc.
5. Offer baptism families a church godparent (this could also be done retrospectively!). 
6. Ensure applications in Bible studies & sermons engage with family issues.
7. Train up family mentors who will encourage & pastor 5 - 10 families.
8. Have specific prayer meetings e.g. for children of primary-age children; for youth & children's leaders; for parents of teenagers etc.
9. Encourage families to go on Ventures together; gos as  church family to Bible by the Beach, New Word Alive .
10. Have a Parenting Forum where people can share issues & problems with church leaders & other parents.
11. Encourage feedback in services from parents & young people (e.g. about parenting, Ventures, school etc.)
12. Ensure parents know where to get reliable, biblical resources to maintain their own faith and to teach their children, i.e. appropriate Bible reading notes, Bibles, etc.)
13. Do a linch for a specific group of children & parents and show them how to do a family Bible & prayer time.
14. Make time together intentional i.e. ask people how they & their children are spiritually - and be honest about problems when asked! Pray together when you meet up as parents.

If you have more ideas, please post them!!

Finally, there's a fantastic article on the Gospel Coalition website about keeping children in the faith. Read it!!