Sheneka Land
Ministry With Families
Dr. Jackie Johns
My Theology of Church and Family
The art of raising a family has been fraught with a myriad of myths throughout the ages. This produces a diseased theology of church and family. Dictionary.com defines a myth as “any invented story, idea, or concept.” History proves that humanity, when left to its own devices, can create powerful and negative impacts on the family.
The church can become the vehicle of healing as it seeks to restore broken and scarred families. But first, the church must recognize its wrong teachings from the past and present. Wrong readings of Scripture have produced spiritual dysfunction and emotional pain within the church community. A re-reading and re-examination of Scripture may be necessary amongst church leaders as well as children, parents, and grandparents that constitute the church in order to bring harmony to the conjoined community of family and church. It is imperative that the Scriptures be read in a method that brings unity and health to the spiritual family. Spiritual progression is impossible if the Scriptures are not read going forward rather than reading and teaching solely from past experiences. Testimonies are great and inspiring, but new testimonies of the Father’s love and grace need to be the norm within the theology of church and family.
A correct theology of church and family can be extracted from the example of Jesus as He lived in intimacy and grace with others. And Jesus continues to live in loving covenantal relationship with His own. Throughout Scripture, narratives are found where God the Father modeled covenant relationships. An understanding of covenant relationships is crucial within the family and church if each is to empower the other. Without intimate group relationships, the family and church as communities will disintegrate. Healthy relationships are built through covenantal interrelations.
A past and present mistake within the church and family has been its seeming promotion of the family as the predominate of all human relationships, while concurrently advocating church events that separate the family more than uniting it. If the family is the foundation on which Christian love and servanthood are built, then the church must exercise more responsibility to teach and train families how to walk in covenant relationships.
Covenant has often been misunderstood as being the same as contract. The difference is that a contract is an agreement that focuses on the desires and needs of involved individuals being met, while a covenant relationship is one in which the individuals agree to relate to one another with mutual respect and a desire to empower each the other. In short, a contract does not exist to consummate and nurture an intimate relationship, while a covenant relationship seeks to create a sacred relationship that co-exists in a relationship with God who is the head, partner, and judge of all covenant relationships. A correct theology of church and family involved covenant and when practiced well will produce healthy, godly families.
Modernity and postmodernity have presented deep challenges to the theology of church and family. Because the very structures that were intended to support and conserve the familial covenant commitment have collapsed, the church faces a mammoth challenge in effectively providing Christian models and training for the family. Church leadership must strategize prayerfully so as to provide an environment that promotes a covenant lifestyle that the present secular culture may not value.
I personally embrace the Family-equipping model for family ministry because it is one in which the church works inter-generationally to promote the parents as the primary disciple-makers in the lives of their children while the church family is an active participant in the process. This mingling of generations within the church family is necessary to prevent relationship isolation and covenant relationships result. In this model, the church becomes a place where family members can gather and be spiritually nourished in an environment of acceptance, intimacy, and mutual concern. Family-equipping ministry provides a place where the family can relax in an encouraging and supportive atmosphere.
As the church envelops the covenantal and family-equipping concepts of spiritual training, I believe that the theology of church and family will be defined as living institutions of love, grace, empowerment, and intimacy that provide a place of haven and rest for the weak and weary. As the church lives out this covenant model, my prayer is that those inside and outside the church walls will witness and experience the mysterious love of the people of God, as they emulate the character of their mysterious heavenly Father.
Ministry With Families
Dr. Jackie Johns
My Theology of Church and Family
The art of raising a family has been fraught with a myriad of myths throughout the ages. This produces a diseased theology of church and family. Dictionary.com defines a myth as “any invented story, idea, or concept.” History proves that humanity, when left to its own devices, can create powerful and negative impacts on the family.
The church can become the vehicle of healing as it seeks to restore broken and scarred families. But first, the church must recognize its wrong teachings from the past and present. Wrong readings of Scripture have produced spiritual dysfunction and emotional pain within the church community. A re-reading and re-examination of Scripture may be necessary amongst church leaders as well as children, parents, and grandparents that constitute the church in order to bring harmony to the conjoined community of family and church. It is imperative that the Scriptures be read in a method that brings unity and health to the spiritual family. Spiritual progression is impossible if the Scriptures are not read going forward rather than reading and teaching solely from past experiences. Testimonies are great and inspiring, but new testimonies of the Father’s love and grace need to be the norm within the theology of church and family.
A correct theology of church and family can be extracted from the example of Jesus as He lived in intimacy and grace with others. And Jesus continues to live in loving covenantal relationship with His own. Throughout Scripture, narratives are found where God the Father modeled covenant relationships. An understanding of covenant relationships is crucial within the family and church if each is to empower the other. Without intimate group relationships, the family and church as communities will disintegrate. Healthy relationships are built through covenantal interrelations.
A past and present mistake within the church and family has been its seeming promotion of the family as the predominate of all human relationships, while concurrently advocating church events that separate the family more than uniting it. If the family is the foundation on which Christian love and servanthood are built, then the church must exercise more responsibility to teach and train families how to walk in covenant relationships.
Covenant has often been misunderstood as being the same as contract. The difference is that a contract is an agreement that focuses on the desires and needs of involved individuals being met, while a covenant relationship is one in which the individuals agree to relate to one another with mutual respect and a desire to empower each the other. In short, a contract does not exist to consummate and nurture an intimate relationship, while a covenant relationship seeks to create a sacred relationship that co-exists in a relationship with God who is the head, partner, and judge of all covenant relationships. A correct theology of church and family involved covenant and when practiced well will produce healthy, godly families.
Modernity and postmodernity have presented deep challenges to the theology of church and family. Because the very structures that were intended to support and conserve the familial covenant commitment have collapsed, the church faces a mammoth challenge in effectively providing Christian models and training for the family. Church leadership must strategize prayerfully so as to provide an environment that promotes a covenant lifestyle that the present secular culture may not value.
I personally embrace the Family-equipping model for family ministry because it is one in which the church works inter-generationally to promote the parents as the primary disciple-makers in the lives of their children while the church family is an active participant in the process. This mingling of generations within the church family is necessary to prevent relationship isolation and covenant relationships result. In this model, the church becomes a place where family members can gather and be spiritually nourished in an environment of acceptance, intimacy, and mutual concern. Family-equipping ministry provides a place where the family can relax in an encouraging and supportive atmosphere.
As the church envelops the covenantal and family-equipping concepts of spiritual training, I believe that the theology of church and family will be defined as living institutions of love, grace, empowerment, and intimacy that provide a place of haven and rest for the weak and weary. As the church lives out this covenant model, my prayer is that those inside and outside the church walls will witness and experience the mysterious love of the people of God, as they emulate the character of their mysterious heavenly Father.