Families Are the Future of the Church 2014 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress John Roberto (LifelongFaith Associates)

Overview If we want vibrant faith in our children, teens, and young adults, then family faith formation needs to be our #1 priority – and we need to devote our time and resources to building strong family assets and strong family faith.  How can parishes help individuals and the whole family weave faith into everyday life?  How can we equip today’s family for discipleship and lifelong faith growth, and support parents and grandparents as faith formers.

Download the

Faith Forming Processes 1.Caring relationships 2.Celebrating rituals and milestones 3.Celebrating the liturgical seasons 4.Learning the Christian tradition and applying it to life today 5.Praying, devotions, and spiritual formation 6.Reading the Bible 7.Serving people in need, working for justice, caring for creation 8.Worshipping with the faith community

Making a Difference in the Life of Families 1.Nurturing the faith life of parents and grandparents 2.Teaching and resourcing parents and grandparents to provide religious socialization and model the Christian faith and practice 3.Engaging the whole family in worship and community life 4.Equipping families to engage in faith practices 5.Building family assets 6.Encouraging parents to develop a warm, supporting, affirming, and authoritative parenting style

Family Assets Search Institute

A Faith Forming System

1.Worship 2.Prayer 3.Sacraments and Rituals 4.Church Year Feasts & Seasons 5.Learning Programs (intergenerational, family, age-group) 6.Service & Mission 7.Community Life Events Church Life

Daily Life  Through the day: meal times, car times, morning and bedtime, exits and entries, family sharing times  Through the year: church year seasons, rituals and celebrations  Through the lifecycle: milestones and rites of passage  Through key family moments – good times and hard times, times of joy and sorrow  Through life issues and life skills: parenting, decision-making, financial planning, communication, and more

Connect Church & Daily Life with Online Content Strategies 1.Extend church events into daily life 2.Create new formats and delivery methods for existing programs 3.Create new programming Online Life Insights, Experiences, and Activities

A Faith Forming System Online Life Insights, Experiences, and Activities

Fashioned around Families

Build an Online Family Formation Center

Strategy #1 Extend an Event You can extend....  Sunday worship  Church year feasts and seasons  Sacrament and ritual celebrations  Children, teen, or family programming  VBS and summer camp  Mission trips and service projects  Retreat experiences.... and more

Example: Sunday Worship

Example: Lenten Season Online Lenten Experiences: Praying, Fasting, Serving 1.Video Introduction: “Ash Wednesday & Lent in 2 Minutes” 2.Video: Getting Ready for Ash Wednesday 3.Exploration: “Meaning of Lent” 4.Day-by-Day through Lent 5.Lenten Calendar 6.Lenten Devotional 7.Lenten Activities 8.Simple Meals in Lent: Recipes for Lent 9.Special: Lenten Retreat for Grandparents

Welcome to Lent 2014 in 2 Minutes!

Get Ready for Ash Wed

How much do you know about Lent?

40 Lenten Ideas

Day-by-Day through Lent

A Lenten Calendar

Lenten Devotional

Living Lent

Eating Simply During Lent

Grandparent Online Retreat

More Resources

How Did I Curate Lent? Criteria:  Trusted Sources  Appropriate to the life stage  Solid biblical and theological content  Solid liturgical season content  Enriching, do-able, short, repeatable activities that weave into daily life  Enjoyable!

How Did I Curate Lent? 1.Vibrant 2.Busted Halo: 3.Church Knows Church: wednesdaywww.chuckknowschurch.com/archive/16-ash- wednesday 4.Loyola Press: days.htmwww.loyolapress.com/40-ideas-for-40- days.htm 5.Luther Seminary: 6.Upper Susquehanna ELCA Synod: lenten-resources-available-for-free-downloadwww.uss-elca.org/2014- lenten-resources-available-for-free-download 7.Catholic Relief Services: activitieswww.crsricebowl.org/family- activities 8.The Text this Week: 9.Catholic Mom: activities-for-childrenhttp://catholicmom.com/kids/lenten- activities-for-children

Example: Sacrament or Milestone

After Baptism

Strategy #2 Redesign Programs Create new formats and delivery systems for church- based programs  Adult enrichment program  Parent speaker series  Parent workshop  Church event – worship, church year celebrations, ritual  VBS – daily updates & children’s presentations And more....

Google+ Hangout Online Course, Small Group, Workshop, or 1- 1 Mentoring Broadcast a Presentation Record the Presentation (YouTube)

Strategy #3 Design New Programs Online Parent Resource Center 1.Parent Webinar Series 2.Learn: Children and Adolescent Development 3.Video: Parenting for the Long Haul 4.Learn: Nine Parenting Strategies 5.Parent Activity: Develop Positive Values in Children 6.Family Activity: Family Communication 7.Parent Resources

How Did I Curate the Parent Online Center? 1.Vibrant 2.ParentFurther: 3.Boys Town: 4.Ted Talks:

Family Growth Plan Create expectations for family participation in learning and church life by providing a yearly growth plan with a variety of options for experiencing the Christian faith through community life. For example:  Sunday worship  Church year feasts and seasons  Service/mission projects  Retreat experience  Family faith home, e.g. reading the Bible, praying, rituals, and more