Family Worship and Catechesis
- Todd Hall
- Aug 18
- 5 min read
If you haven't already subscribed to the Journal of Christian Studies, make sure you do today so you won't miss 5/3, which is in the final stages of editing and formatting. The theme of this issue is "Instruction in the Faith: Catechesis."
Following is an excerpt from Darren Williamson's article, "Family Worship: An Essential Tool for Discipling the Next Generation," and the Table of Contents for this issue. See our previous post for the editor's note.
Family Worship:
An Essential Tool for Discipling the Next Generation
Darren T. Williamson
Northwest School of Discipleship
A couple of years ago I was asked to lead a prayer at an annual Pro-Life rally at the Oregon state capitol. The well-meaning evangelical politician who introduced me botched the introduction by stating that I was the Director of the Northwest School of Disciplineship (rather than discipleship). Then, without realizing her mistake, she quipped that “my kids need to go to your school!” I have often reflected on that humorous moment because it was telling. First of all, it revealed that she was not very familiar with the word discipleship, which, simply put, conveys the state of being a serious follower and pupil of Jesus and is often used in contrast with simply being a cultural Christian. Thankfully, many North American Christians are waking up to the fact that nominal, cultural, shallow Christianity is never what Jesus intended for his followers, nor will that kind of faith commitment survive the “negative world” in which Christians now live.[1] Second, the speaker also instinctively assumed that someone else—not she—needed to educate her children in “disciplineship.” That instantaneous response revealed her participation in the culture of “professionalization” that has influenced many Christian parents for several generations. For too long, Christian parents have looked to Sunday school teachers, youth ministers, children’s ministers, private school teachers, or Christian universities to make disciples of their children, and it has been a disaster for multigenerational faithfulness. Also thankfully, many researchers and thoughtful youth workers have come to see that parents have the most influence on children’s faith and that getting them to embrace disciple-making at home is a desperately needed course correction.[2]
This essay seeks to introduce readers to a long lost yet effective way to help parents embrace their disciple-making role by creating spiritually rich space in the family routine. That tool is family worship, the regular gathering of the family to worship God and receive instruction in the Christian faith in the home. The four essential elements of family worship include reciting memorized truth, singing spiritual songs, reading the Bible, and communal prayer. Practical guidance of the “how” of family worship is important, but without conviction of its need—the “why”—and inspiration to implement it, the time pressures placed on today’s homes will overwhelm the practice in time. This essay calls attention to the biblical basis and historical precedent for family worship that hopefully will inspire ministers and church leaders to recover for themselves and their congregants an excellent and essential tool for home-based discipleship.
Why Family Worship? Biblical Foundation
The most important reason to embrace family worship is that parents have a biblical mandate to personally pass on faith to their children. Consistently throughout the entire Bible, the home is viewed as the central place where faith is transmitted to the next generation of believers.[3]
In the Old Testament, the home is the essential context where the pivotal events of Israel’s history are commemorated and taught. The identity of the Israelites as God’s chosen people was solidified when he rescued them from slavery in Egypt. God struck down the firstborn of the Egyptians but spared the Israelites who smeared blood over the doorposts of their homes. This event is commemorated annually as the Feast of Passover and is accompanied by the Feast of Unleavened Bread, two celebrations based in individual homes and calling for personal instruction by parents.
Regarding the Passover, Moses commanded the people, “You shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover” (Exod 12:26). Further in the section, Moses provides more instruction about the Passover, specifically that the lamb or goat “shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones” (Exod 12:46). The home is ground zero for remembering the Passover. As well, the accompanying Feast of Unleavened Bread is to be celebrated in the home and explained to children directly by parents. Moses said, “You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand, as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth” (Exod 13:8–9). Finally, fathers must explain the consecration of the firstborn to their own children. He writes, “And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery” (Exod 13:14).
From the beginning, then, God commanded the Israelites to make their homes a place of instruction....
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[1] See Aaron M. Renn, Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Reflective, 2024), who has prompted a lively debate about how Christianity in America went from being viewed positively, then neutrally, to now negatively by the broader culture.
[2] See Kara E. Powell and Chap Clark, Stickyfaith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 69–92, as a representative example of researchers trumpeting the importance of parents for kids’ faithfulness.
[3] What follows is an abridged and adapted version of chapter 2 of my Family Worship Guide: A Handbook for the Christian Home (Los Angeles: Sulis Publishers, 2020). Used with permission. This handbook provides practical guidance and resources for implementing family worship and can be purchased from most online booksellers.
Table of Contents:
Alex Fogleman (Trinity Anglican Seminary), "Foundational Faith: Retrieving Catechesis Today"
Darren T. Williamson (Northwest School of Discipleship), "Family Worship: An Essential Tool for Discipling the Next Generation"
Daniel Crouch (Harding University), "Learning the Language of the Church: Or, Why the Apostles’ Creed Won’t Solve Your Problems"
M. Todd Hall (CCS), "'Create in Me a Clean Heart': Humans as Liturgical Beings"
Eli Randolph (Harding University), "Made Known in the Breaking of the Bread: The Eucharist and Catechesis"
Daniel Austin Napier (Ashrei Europe), "A Sound Beginning: Retrieving an Ancient Model of Christian Conversion"
Interviews on Catechesis
