We love to see churches and families partnering together to see children flourish and grow in faith.
Below are some resources and organisations that can help you as you partner with the families in your church and local community.
"Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.
- Deuteronomy 6:6-9
The resources from the Faith@Home team help the church and the home to partner together for the spiritual nurture of children. Mark Holmen has a variety of resources and books that have been widely used in our churches here in NZ.
We have also included resources and weblinks from other groups who also support the nurturing of faith in the home.
Books by Mark Holmen
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Church + Home
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Take it Home
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Faith Begins at Home
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Faith Begins @Home - Prayer
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Faith Begins @Home - Family
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Faith Begins @Home - Dad
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Faith Begins @Home - Mum
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Faith Begins @Home - Grand Parents
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Faith Begins @Home - Devotions
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Impress Faith on your Kids
Faith@Home Events
Faith@Home events have proven a very popular way to equip and resource families to share faith conversations and develop spiritual disciplines.
What is Faith@Home
In conjunction with four New Zealand churches, we have developed a resource that uses the Take it Home model from Mark Holmen’s book and contextualises it for NZ churches.
Click here to go to the Faith@Home page
BCFM @Home Resources
These family-time resources have been developed so that families can have some faith-shaping times together as they make the most of the weeks leading up to Easter and Christmas.
They are designed to stimulate discussion, create fun times and enable parents and children to learn more about why these are our two most important Christian celebrations.
If you are looking to strengthen the families in your church and community, then
check out some of the following groups and organisations
Alpha Parenting and Alpha Marriage
Their aim is to provide practical, relevant help to couples, individuals and parents who are at different stages in their relationships and family life. The courses can be held in your church over 6 weeks and are accessible to both church and community families. See the website for details. Read more
Spiritual Parenting – Michelle Anthony
Spiritual Parenting unravels the “good behavior” style of parenting and unveils in its place, parenting that allows the Holy spirit to work in both the children and the parent. As God does His work, we see children grow into a transformational spiritual life. Who wouldn’t want that for their child?
This is a 6 session series that takes you step by step through the book of the same name. Each session is led by Michelle Anthony as she presents in front of a small audience of parents and CM leaders. There are interactive times and take home sheets along with the teaching on DVD. This can be shortened to fit the context in which you wish to use the series. Read more
Family Life
Family Life run marriage and parenting courses aimed at strengthening families. They hold events that couples can attend along with resources that can be purchased or downloaded from their website. Read more
The Parenting Place
The Parenting Place is a charity with a heart for NZ families. They believe that healthy, loving families can transform society. They offer courses that can be run in your church for both church and community families. Their Toolbox courses are available in four age levels and are run by trained facilitators. See the website for details. Read more
NZ Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family NZ is a Christian organization with a vision for helping families, communities and society to thrive through Christ and His Gospel. Our purpose is to strengthen, defend and celebrate human dignity, marriage and the institution of the traditional family, and to highlight the unique and irreplaceable role that these play in God’s larger story of redemption.
Our ultimate desire is to empower the Church in this country with the knowledge and the tools that it needs to embrace and be a vibrant living witness to the life-changing power of Christian love in action.
See the website for details of events and resources. Read more
Valentine - About The Parenting Place
Rites of Passage and Milestones
Many cultures are rich in significant events to acknowledge the rights of passage of the developing young person within their community. Within Western culture our children move through various life stages, each of which brings its opportunities
and challenges. How do we best help a young person to navigate through each of these – as a household of faith and as a community of faith? How can we be more strategic and intentional for our kids and create spaces and anchors to help
them in their transformation?
Weblinks
Milestone Ministry
Introduction to Faith Stepping Stones
Here2Stay - Rites of Passage
Legacy Milestones
Pinterest Faith Milestones
Grandview Baptist - Family Faith Milstones
Recommended Books
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Shift - What It Takes to Finally Reach Families Today - Haynes, Brian.
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Celebrating the Milestones of Faith - Keeley, Laura and Robert
Articles
Milestones as a means to empower and equip Lives of Faith
Milestones of Faith
One Home at a Time - Brian Haynes
Passing on Faith - Milestone to Milestone
Through the Zone - Creating rites of passage
Faith5
FAITH5™ (Faith Acts In The Home) is a simple, easy-to-implement faith practice, perfect for incorporating into your
bedtime routine for five to fifteen minutes a night. When done over time, the FAITH5™ carries the power to enrich
communication, deepen understanding, aid sleep, and promote mental, physical and spiritual health.
Thank you to our friends at Strandz for this video clip showing how and why to use Faith 5.
SHARE - your highs and lows
READ - a Bible verse or story
TALK - about how the Bible reading might relate to your highs and
lows
PRAY - for one another's highs and lows
BLESS - one another
Faith 5 Resources
In his Book Holding Your Family Together, Dr Rich Melheim explains how to use the Faith 5 tool to bring your family closer to God and each other.
Thank you to our friends at Strandz for this video clip showing how and why to use Faith 5.
Faith 5
The team at Faithink have developed a tool for families to use in the home. Faith5 looks at how to involve Jesus into your everyday conversations, by following 5 steps - share, read, talk, pray, bless.