Family Faith Formation Resources from Faith Alive
When I do in-person Sunday school teacher training (becoming rarer and rarer these days), I like to share a white rope of 168 inches which has one inch colored in black. I ask people if they know what the 168 inches represents. Usually they don’t, so I explain that it’s the number of hours in one week and that the one inch in black represents the one hour or so that we have with the children in Sunday school, if they even come every week.
That leads into the importance of family faith formation. The findings of the National Study of Youth and Religion found that “…normally, parents are most important in forming their children’s religious and spiritual lives.” So an important aspect of those of us involved in children’s ministry is encouraging and equipping families to practice faith formation with their children. Fortunately, more and more Christian publishers are offering resources to assist families in this mission.
Faith Alive Christian Resources is the publishing imprint of the Christian Reformed Church in North America; a section of their website is devoted to resources for families and Family Ministry. I was recently sent two family resources to preview. They both seem easy to use and are small enough to throw in a purse or bag or keep in the car; they are also bright, colorful and fun.
God’s Big Story cards have been around for a while; they can be used as an addition to Faith Alive’s Dwell Sunday school curriculum or as a stand-alone resource. Families select one of 165 cards, read a story from the Bible, roll a color-coded die, and then do the activity which matches the indicated color. Activities include retelling the story, wondering about something related to the story, praying, praising God, sharing, and responding in various ways such as singing, searching online, eating a special food, etc. According to a review on the Faith Alive website by author and educator David Csinos: “This resource is ecumenical in that it doesn’t push any particular theological perspective, but encourages children to make their own connections, to ask wondering questions, and to live into God’s story.” There are instructions for a family event to introduce God’s Big Story cards; they sell for $15.00.
Everyday Family Faith, which was recently published, is another resource for Christian families. It is a pocket-sized book with glossy pages which should stand up to grimy hands and spilled juice. Easy-to-use tabs for each day of the week lead to suggested Scripture passages along with Faith Talk Questions. There is also a section at the back of the book which includes a Gospel Summary (which may not appeal to those who don’t hold to substitutionary atonement), The Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 23, The Apostles’ Creed, Family Theme Verses, and Daily Prayer Ideas. Everyday Family Faith sells for $10 (or $6 for orders of 10 or more copies) and can be used as a baptism gift, a gift for new families, or a kick-off gift for a church-wide family faith formation initiative.
A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.
