Perspectives on Family Ministry - Chapter 6

The title of this chapter is 'Responses to Paul Renfro'. This is one thing that I really like about this book. Each supporter of a family ministry model has the opportunity to respond and voice their opinions and concerns about the other's proposed model of family ministry. This chapter posed a VERY interesting conversation between the three, in which I became immensely engaged in. I must say that of the two responses, I felt that Jay Strother's response was much more 'respectful' in the sense that he encouraged Paul Renfro and lovingly brought up some reservations and genuine questions that he had about the family-integrated model. Brandon Shields' response seemed a little more offensive and almost as if he were attacking Paul and his ministry model preference. There was one thing that Paul said in his response to the other two that I didn't agree with 100%.

"Yet age-segregated structures that remain in place in family-based and family-equipping churches make family reformation more difficult by tacitly reinforcing the false notion that professional ministers are the people primarily responsible for children's discipleship." (Pg 96)

I just completed a group project on these models, where my group was responsible for teaching and evaluating the family-equipping model. Through my research and studying, the family-equipping model doesn't promote the 'false notion that professional ministers are the people primarily responsible for children's discipleship' at all. In fact, the model actually provides resources and 'equips' (hence the name) the family, so that they will be able to do their job as the people primarily responsible for children's discipleship. I think that there is a bigger chance that in the family-equipping and family-based models that the focus can be shifted back to the church again, however if done correctly, the people who are primarily responsible for children's discipleship are the parents and the family. The church in these models, serves and supports as an extended family, offering to help wherever the parents/family need.