Family Ministry

One distinctive of our ministry at Grace Baptist is that we seek to maintain a biblical relationship between the church and the home. The home is the primary context for the spiritual discipleship of children, with parents possessing the responsibility of being the primary spiritual leaders of their children (Deut 6:4-9, Ps 78:1-8, Eph 6:4),  while the church is the community of believers that is intended to function as a spiritual family (Eph 2:18-22, 1 Cor 12:4-31, Rom 12:4-8).  Therefore, it is vital that the church and home work together for the glory of God and the good of His people.

What is a biblical family ministry?

First and foremost, we do not believe that a great family ministry is the answer to every problem that exists within the home–the Gospel is. Therefore, while family ministry is very important at Grace, everything we do does not revolve around the family. Instead, everything we do revolves around the Gospel. This is the foundation for our family ministry. With the Gospel as the foundation for all that we do, we believe there are four essential “pillars” for an effective family ministry:

• Parents are the primary spiritual leaders of their children (Deut 6:4-9, Ps 78:1-8, Eph 6:4).
• Pastors are equipping families (Eph 4:11-12).
• The church is a family (Eph 2:19).
• An inter-generational ministry is vital (1 Cor 12, Rom 12, Titus 2:1-7).

What does this look like at Grace?

Parents as Spiritual Leaders     Our ministries at Grace seek to equip parents to carry out their God-given role. The men’s ministry and women’s ministry teach parents how to raise godly young men and women, while the children’s ministry and student ministry seek to partner with parents rather than replace parents.

Pastors Equipping Families     The desire of our pastoral staff is to equip each person in the family to fulfill their role. We want to train and resource parents with what they need to effectively lead their home spiritually. We also seek to teach our young people what it looks like to honor and obey their parents. In order to equip families, we offer strategic ministries in the following areas that seek to strengthen the family instead of pulling it apart.

• Children’s Ministry
• Student Ministry
• Men’s Ministry
• Women’s Ministry

The Church is a Family     Scripture teaches us that we are saved individually, but we are not left alone. Instead, through Christ we are adopted into the family of God. Therefore, Grace Baptist functions as a family. This becomes very important when we remember that every nuclear family is different—some are “traditional,” some are blended, some are single-parent homes, and others have grandparents carrying out the role of parents. Therefore, our church functions as an extended family to come alongside every family for support, encouragement, prayer, and discipleship.

Inter-generational Ministry     At Grace, we understand how unhealthy it is to segregate young people from the older adults in our congregation. Therefore, we seek to involve members of all ages in shoulder-to-shoulder worship, teaching, ministry, fellowship, and missions. We expect the older adults in our body to carry out the instructions of Paul in Titus 2:1-7, training those who are younger in godly living.

 

Rites of Passage: How Grace guides parents and other adults to raise godly men and women

Grace Baptist has put in place a framework to equip parents and other adults to lead the young people of Grace through four clearly defined rites of passage—Parent-Child Dedication, Salvation, Preparing for Adolescence, and Biblical Manhood/Womanhood. Each one of these rites of passage marks a significant progression toward a young person becoming a godly man or woman. For a downloadable PDF that further explains our rites of passage, CLICK HERE.