Family Ministry

This afternoon, Lydia and I were going through some things that I had managed to collect and save over the years, cleaning out files, rummaging through a desk drawer, throwing away some old articles. In the process, we ran across several items related to families and social breakdown in America. The contexts of these items were different and varied; but in several places, we read the same statistic--and it shocked me. It is fairly widely understood now that 35% of births in America today are illegitimate. Of course, the percentages are much higher in certain racial and economic groups; but such instances are increasing in all strata of American society. For a number of years, I have had it in the back of my mind to become more intentionally involved in family ministry. Children are increasingly coming into homes without fathers; marriages are becoming less stable; the stress of job and financial pressures is becoming more than many families can bear. Add to that the changing role of women, the constant discussions in the media and elsewhere regarding homosexuality, and some of the disturbing trends in education, and you have a recipe for the destruction of the American family as we know it. The church is largely to blame for much of thedissolution of families in America today. Mainline denominations have not given the clear guidance or upheld the conventional standards of the biblical family. Many of us who are ministers have abrogated our responsibilities in this area for fear of offending church members or seeming too old-fashioned or judgmental. The ministry to families does not have to be carried out in a condemning or unloving fashion. Where people have made serious mistakes, those mistakes need to be recognized; but the power and presence of God's love and grace also need to be strongly affirmed. ADults need to be encouraged to take their responsibilities seriously. The church can once again be the nurturing institution that Christ ordained it to be. I've dreamed of having a Family Ministry Center to help with family counseling, financial matters, and perhaps even job skills and other areas of family life. Whether that ever comes to fruition as part of my ministry, now or in later years, of course, remains to be seen. Of one thing I am certain, however: The church needs to be more involved in guarding the future of the traditional family unit, or the future of the institutional church itself will be in doubt.