*YES this is how Jesus would look doing Faith at Home! You are not alone.
What Makes a Good Parent: Scientific American Mind researched the top ten charachteristics of a good parent. Did you know staying calm and managing stress is #2?
The Southern Ohio Synod launched Paraclete Post, a monthly mail subscription service providing a high-quality faith-based picture book, an art print, prompts for faith conversations and suggestions for spiritual activities, and an epistle offering encouragement to parents and caregivers, along with some suggestions for further reading. These monthly “parcels” are offered free of charge to families in the United States. Find out more HERE.
Faith Factors for Young People: A one page chart on the top ten faith factors shaping each stage of life from birth to 29.
Books:Sing, Wrestle, Spin: Prayers for Active Kids by Jennifer Grant. Prayer does not have to involve silence, sitting still, and solemnity. It can be active and engaging, especially essential for kids, who often enjoy movement and creativity. In an easy-to-use format with illustrations, the author connects scripture and biblical characters to dynamic prayer practices such as wrestling, singing, breathing, and dancing.
Prayers for Faithful Families Everyday Prayers for Everyday Life - byTraci Smith. It equips busy parents with simple prayers, written in ordinary language, for a wide variety of occasions. Tthis book is a resource for creating meaningful faith connections throughout the highs and lows of family life.
Faithful Families at Home: 15 Easy Family-Friendly Prayers and Activities (Downloadable PDF) - From Chalice Press and author Traci Smith - Download 15 easy prayers, practices, and activities to share with your children!
Six videos created by Traci Smith highlighting the practices of hospitality, prayer, retreat, service, and storytelling which are part of the PC USA Faith Practices Toolkit.
Activities:Lutheran Pastor Heather Roth Johnson and her team are creating a faith at home YouTube channel entitled “Faith Finder Fun!” It’s a free resource for your families!
Presbyterian Church USA offers a QUICKSHEET
of faith practices for the home.
Spiritual Practices - Being a faith-filled family isn't only about reading the Bible together, it also includes spiritual practices and the Christian Reformed Church has done the work for you!
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Tools for Family Ministry:Example of a Weekly Family Devotion Guide.
Families at the Center of Faith Formation: This ESSENTIAL paper has research proven and well explained reasons for re-centering faith in the home. (*Best perhaps used in bits for teaching, newsletters.)
Family Faith Formation Toolkit - from the Reformed Church, This FREE toolkit will help you develop a vision for family faith formation in your congregation and equip parents and caregivers with family faith practices and resources.
Nurturing the Faith of Young People: A comprehensive fifty-two page, step by step, helpful tool for the importance of nurturing faith in youth.
Vibrant Faith @Home - hundreds of activities for families with children, families with adolescents, young adults, adults and couples, and activities just for kids.
The activities are short (usually only 5-10 minutes) in PDF files. Podcasts:Hope and Joy: Bedtime Bible Meditations for Children by Joyce Chanay and Hope Newhouse
A meditative evening podcast for children ages 5-12 years-old and the whole family. Each week explores a spiritual theme and ends with a meditation and evening prayer that encourages children to relax into sleep surrounded by God's love. Misc.:Consider using these conversation starters from Sparkhouse:
Boundaries Video - from Jewish Mayim Balik we learnd our shared value of holding boundaries.
Helpful Short Article on How to Talk about God the Mother.
5 Ways to Retell a Bible Story With Kids- great tips from the Christian Reformed Church
How to Talk to Your Children about Conflict and War - from Unicef
8 tips to support and comfort your children. Prayers for Anxious Times Coloring Pages - FREE from Illustrated Ministry comes prayers and three sheets for coloring. Great for all ages!
Guiding Children to Discover the Bible, Navigate Technology and Follow Jesus - from Barna an 80-page report filled with findings to help ministry leaders and parents partner in faith formation. All Davey & Goliath videos from the ELCA can be found here.
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