The formation of lived faith in children: a partnership between congregation and home

Youth ministry within the congregation is at peril. The old paradigm is not producing the spiritual leaders and followers of Christ that we hoped for. Even the congregations that invest much of their resources, efforts, labours and time in their youth ministry invest in areas where it is least effective. This deplorable situation appears to be rife, although the research reveals to us a way to address this neglect. The focus of this research is to show where the current youth ministry model falls short, and why it should be changed. We take an in-depth look at the most recent research concerning families and ministry focused on the home. The state of scholarship also encompasses the development of lived faith and best practices to achieve this. From this solid, theoretical framework, this study will proceed to do qualitative analysis research via Focused Group Interviews in three diverse congregations to discern what the current philosophy for faith formation is, and how the parents perceive this. This study will then proceed by applying grounded theory to develop knowledge of the problem, and to formulate a theory that may answer the pragmatic question as to how congregations and parents can be more effective in forming lived faith in their young. This practice-oriented theological project hopes to highlight the partnership between the congregation and the home. Similar to dance partners on a dance floor, the aim of both dancers is to bring to the fore the best in each other. Partners inspire each other to render both of them fluent in the language of faith formation. We believe that this will inspire the next generation to join the dance because of the model presented to them. Lastly, we hope to deduce the transferable concepts that can be applied in congregations everywhere.