FocusOnTheFamily

Healthy homes, healthy church

Written by Jim Toohey

How do you measure church health? There are many valid answers. One critical measure that is often overlooked and underestimated is the home. Your church is only as healthy as the homes (represented by families) that attend it. Healthy homes make for a healthy church.

As a pastor, I remember having our church’s plans for new ministry ventures, improvements, innovations and growth expansion all laid out, but then we needed people to carry out the plans. Where do you turn to fill the expanded need for human resources? You guessed it: the homes that make up your church.

And that’s when reality hits. Healthy homes are probably already overstretched. Meanwhile, the rest are going through difficulties or changes like relationship or marriage issues. It’s easy to see this as an obstacle to ministry and miss seeing it as a golden opportunity to make equipping the home a primary ministry focus.

Why strengthen faith at home?
One could say that dairy farmers milk their cows for all they’re worth. But there’s something else they do extremely well: invest in the care, feeding and health of those cows. And they’re just cows! Your church probably has a great plan to recruit servants to expand the ministry. But do you have an effective strategy to nurture and equip the homes from which these servants come? If you don’t, consider a few reasons why you should:

1. Health
The home – not the church – is the cradle of spiritual health and all that comes with it. After conducting extensive church and home surveys, Peter Benson, the director of Search institute, says, “As the family goes, so goes the future of the church. Religious life in the home is more influential than the church.”

Reading the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua confirms the home’s importance. When the nation of Israel was at a spiritual high point with great leaders like Moses and Joshua, the future of the nation’s spiritual health was entrusted not to the leaders but to the families. As Joshua says in Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

If the home is the primary place where faith is or is not nurtured, and if these homes provide the volunteers that serve in your ministries, doesn’t it make sense to have a strategy to equip them?

2. Growth
A committed household spends between 40-50 hours every year at church, but will spend over 2,000 hours together at home. It would take 40-50 years for your church to match the time a household will have in just one! What would happen to your church if you were to equip the home and influence those 2,000 hours? Growth.

Additionally, if you’re doing outreach and looking for common ground to start a discussion with anyone, try talking about the home. What parent doesn’t lose sleep worrying about their kids? What spouse doesn’t have concerns about their marriage? What grandparent isn’t carrying fears for their children and grandchildren? What young adult isn’t labouring with some of the biggest decisions they’ve ever had to face?

The home is a big topic that easily relates to people of all cultures, age brackets and backgrounds. Now, imagine you’re in one of those conversations. Wouldn’t it be great if you could share the amazing things your church is doing to equip and strengthen the home? Just imagine if you could point them to your church website, which outlines your strategy and posts testimonials about transformations that are happening in homes. You bet you’d have their attention!

3. Longevity
In an era of ever-changing trends, longevity is secured by investing in things that last. There are a few things the Bible says will be with us up to the day Jesus returns, including God’s Word, the Church and the family.

Surveys have revealed repeatedly that expensive items like media, retreats, seminars, concerts, and even church services have minimal spiritual influence. In contrast, Mom, Dad and grandparents are among the top four influencers. Does your church budget and ministry focus reflect this reality?

Trends will come and go. Invest in your key influencers: your homes.

Pastor Jim Toohey of Chilliwack, B.C., has spent three years developing the Faith at Home program in a local church. He speaks at camps and conferences, and mentors other churches interested in exploring and implementing a Faith at Home focus in their church. Contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Other helpful resources:
Focusonthefamily.ca/pastors
Faithathome.com/fh-church
Faithathome.com/fh-resources

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