Lifelong Faith

Lifelong Faith provides a blueprint for Christian formation that forms disciples of all ages and transforms church communities. Vibrant lifelong faith formation can renew and revitalize faith across generations and contribute towards a thriving congregation that lives its mission. Using the seven elements outlined in this book, churches will create a dynamic and vital plan that can be customized to meet the needs, interests, and challenges we face today and nurture the spiritual growth of all ages. With current research, clear examples, and tools for design and evaluation, Lifelong Faith is a practical, thoughtful, and comprehensive guide for clergy, educators, and lay leaders who seek a fresh, holistic approach to Christian education and discipleship.

As Your Children Grow, Will Their Faith Grow Too? As both stories and statistics attest, the number of evangelical children who abandon Christianity in adulthood is staggering. To see effective change, parents cannot leave their child’s faith to chance. Rather, families must start nurturing faith early—you cannot start once your child is grown, you must start at home. Strengthening family and home life is the best way to encourage your children to maintain a lifelong faith. It Starts at Home upholds marriage and family as the proving ground for lasting success. Experienced pastors Kurt Bruner and Steve Stroope provide a clear purpose, an effective strategy, and a simple plan for anyone who wants to be intentional in their homes. Their insights will help leaders recalibrate their priorities by asking them to evaluate their leadership where it counts most. This newly revised edition evaluates the current trends families and young adults face that can contribute to this crisis. Don’t let your child’s faith fade to memory—learn how you can create a home that will prepare them for lifelong faith.

In their work as Christian apologists, father and son Stuart and Cameron McAllister hear from Christian parents who worry about raising their children in the faith amid a seductive culture. Reflecting on their own very different experiences of coming to Christian faith, they share how our homes can be places of honest conversation, open-handed exploration, and lasting faith.

Here the authors convincingly show that intergenerational faith formation, when done well, can be powerful, dramatic, even magical. Not only is there a place for intergenerational learning in parish faith formation, the authors believe there is a necessity for it. They show that intergenerational faith formation can help children, adolescents, and adults effectively identify with and integrate into the faith community because their learning and formation takes place in the context of communityall ages learning together. People will be looking for this one.

This resource presents twelve essential practices for a Christian way of life. Written for adults, parents, and families to use in learning about and living these Christian practices, each chapter presents the Biblical foundation of the Christian practice and a variety of practical suggestions for living it and making it an integral part of everyday life.

Lasting, lifelong faith is rarely taught in church programs but is rather ''caught'' from a lifestyle of faith lived out at home ... but how can your church equip the home to be the primary place where faith is nurtured rather than being a ''drop-off center'' for Bible education? By becoming a Faith@Home church. Based on Mark Holmen's foundational book Building Faith at Home, this new revised and expanded edition includes everything you need to weave a Faith@Home focus into the DNA of your church community! Church + Home builds on the ministry concepts Mark has refined through the rapid international growth of the Faith@Home movement. You will learn how to reestablish your church members' homes as the primary incubator for faith by implementing vibrant, effective Faith@Home ministry in your church, no matter its size. You'll also find practical tools for building bridges between your church's programs and member's homes, and hear from pastors, student ministers and lay leaders whose faith communities are making an eternal difference in families' lives. Your church can put faith back where it belongs ... Church + Home shows you how. Find out how your faith community can become a Faith@Home church to grow the next generation of the Body of Christ.

“An inspiring page-turner about faith . . . a masterfully written instruction manual for overcoming fear, a treasure trove of strategies for confidently navigating the path to success.” T.D. JAKES SR., CEO of TDJ Enterprises, LLP; senior pastor of The Potter’s House of Dallas, Inc.; and New York Times best-selling author When you feel like giving up, seek God and ask for Courageous Faith. Set-backs, failures, and fatigue impacts us all. And at times we don’t feel like going on. But we must! In this book you’ll discover faith-filled principles to use as a blueprint for perseverance, and a new definition of success for your life.

Sticky Faith delivers positive and practical ideas to nurture within your kids a living, loving faith that lasts a lifetime. Research indicates that almost half of high school seniors drift from their faith after graduation. Struck by this staggering statistic, and recognizing its ramifications, the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) conducted the "College Transition Project" in an effort to identify the relationships and best practices that can set young people on a trajectory of lifelong faith and service. This easy-to-read guide presents both a compelling rationale and a powerful strategy to show parents how to actively encourage their children’s spiritual growth so that it will stick with them into adulthood and empower them to develop a living, lasting faith. Written by Fuller Youth Institute Executive Director Dr. Kara E. Powell and youth expert Chap Clark--authors known for the integrity of their research and the intensity of their passion for young people--Sticky Faith is geared to spark a movement that empowers adults to develop robust and long-term faith in kids of all ages. Further engage your family and church with the Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family, Sticky Faith curriculum, and Sticky Faith youth worker edition. Sticky Faith is also available in Spanish, Cómo criar jóvenes de fe sólida.

Here Bill Huebsch offers a blueprint for how to bring the dreams and visions for a GREAT parish to fruition. He shows parish leaders and ministers how to move in the direction of lifelong faith formation by offering adults in the parish powerful conversion experiences (particularly through parish-based retreats and intergenerational Faith Gatherings). He also offers a clear and consistent plan for step-by-step growth, with special emphasis on excellent liturgies, strong and effective catechist and teacher formation, and developing households of faith. In this definitive guide, he not only shows parishes how to get started but also how to keep going until lifelong faith formation is a reality.