When you hear the term “family” used, what do you think of? How would you define family? It could be those that you are related to by blood or by marriage. It could include those you work with or have been friends with for an extended amount of time. It may include your pets, your church, another family or other groups that you meet with. Maybe it is the entire group that is considered family or just an individual from that group. Some people become part of your family without you choosing them to be (siblings spouse, step-parent), while others are in your family because you chose them to be (spouse, friend).

As I think of the KIDSWORLD purpose, “to partner with families”, I realize that the term families is a very broad term that can include many people in a child’s life. I purposely chose to use the word families over the word parents because when thinking of parents it is usually thought of as a biological mom and dad. Yet in today’s society there are so many other combinations of people who are “parenting”. I think it is important not to exclude our ministry from anyone who is raising children. Our purpose is to partner with those who have a desire to raise Godly children. So the definition for “families” in the context of “Children & Family Ministry” and “to partner with families” are those who share their lives with children and desire to pass on their faith to them.

Children & Family Ministry is only focused on ministering to families with children sixth grade and under. Yet there are many other types of families out there to be ministered to such as single people, married without kids (like myself), children now in youth group, college or beyond, adults caring for their aging parents, etc. These are all types of families that need to be ministered to but do not fall into the category of Children & Family Ministry; however, they are to be ministered to by other areas of the church. There are so many types of families and family situations that every part of the church must be mindful of them and work together to support families throughout their various journeys of life.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Often we think of a partnership as a business relationship. While that is a very popular type of partnership, there are other partnerships such as in marriage, friendships, and in events or causes. Partnerships are very valuable because they provide a way for individuals or groups to come together to accomplish a goal that they could not accomplish on their own. Often one party will have certain talents, resources and skills that they other doesn’t, so when they come together they have a lot more to offer. However this can also cause problems because the two parties are so different that they can clash, sometimes leading to a split. For a partnership to be successful they must agree upon the goal, how it will be accomplished and what roles they will have. Then they must continue to remind themselves of these things so that they stay on task and avoid complications or separation.

The partnership between church and home must also have these components in order to stay together and make the most impact possible on the next generation. If the church and families do not work to make a partnership, and instead attempt to forge ahead separately, they will struggle to make headway and it will be a much slower process. In this world can we afford to move at a slower pace in raising children that follow God? So much research shows that by fourteen years old the moral and spiritual development of a child is nearly fully formed. Why would we allow ourselves to slowly struggle through trying to raising Godly children when we can join together to share each others strengths, talents, resources, time and skills? We cannot continue trying to get the job done separately or hope the other is doing enough of the work. Instead we must work together! Therefore I am in the pursuit of finding ways that KIDSWORLD can partner with families. Ways that define the goal, how it can be accomplished and what roles the church and families will have to accomplish that goal.

To partner with families in the goal of spiritually forming their children so that they can live their entire lives for Jesus in this world.