JourneyOnline
By Jillian Ross, Day Camp, Intergen & Faith at Home Coordinator, Moreton Rivers Presbytery
One of the foundational principles of the Here2Stay discipleship framework is the nurturing of Families/Households as the primary faith communities for all ages. Offering a range of resources for Lent/Easter & Advent/Christmas was one way our church realised that we could support households in having a growing, lifelong, active faith that extended beyond our gathering together on a Sunday.
A few years ago, I received this picture of a wooden cross covered in ribbons from a single lady in our church. This was after our congregation had created and offered a range of resources for households to use for reflection at home during Lent and Easter. This particular lady had chosen some daily readings, among other things. In part of the material she had received, she had seen the idea of adding a ribbon to a cross with each daily reading each day, which she chose to do. The picture brought us great joy to see how she had taken the time through Lent to engage in worship at home, not just in daily reflection but in creating something beautiful as a reminder of that time spent with God.
Offering these resources to all households grew out of the realisation that one size does not fit all when supporting families with children, from babies to teenagers, in engaging with God. We, therefore, decided to offer a range of resources for families to order and use in the weeks leading up to Lent. We extended this to include all households and invited anyone to order resources. Families or households of all types chose & ordered the most relevant materials for their needs. We were greatly encouraged when families with young children and teens, young single adults, older single adults and grandparents were using the resources to support their faith journey within their home.
The upcoming discipleship workshop on June 3, focusing on the Here 2 Stay framework, will offer some practical ideas to support the development of intentional faith-enriching family/household nurture discipleship practices.
Why not get a few people together from your congregation and join us in person or online as we explore this discipleship framework and consider how it might help your congregation be one that fashions lifelong followers of Jesus?
For more information, contact adminsupport@mrpres.org.au or register at https://bit.ly/H2SWorkshop.
