Explaining The Shema Initiative

⁴ "Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵ And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.⁶ And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.⁷ Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Deut 6:4-7 (NLT)

I had a phone conversation with a parent from my church a couple of weeks ago. This parent had some concerns about their soon to be teenage child. During this conversation I learned that though this parent, and their spouse are actively involved in our church's children's ministries, little or nothing is being done in their home throughout the week to reinforce their family's walk with God. I can't help but think that this fact plays some role in the struggles they are having with their child. I also think that many Christian families might tell a similar story if asked.

This individual case highlights a broader discovery from the National Study of Youth and Religion (http://youthandreligion.org/) as highlighted by Dr. Kendra Creasy Dean in her book Almost Christian and her presentation at the 2011 National Youth Workers Convention. According to these studies, to over simplify, youth (at least for the time being) are generally excepting the religious beliefs of their parents. While this is encouraging it presents a problem. The faith that these children are accepting is more of a consumerist, self-help, pseudo-Christianity as opposed to the discipleship that Jesus called his followers to. So, what is a possible answer to this quandary? While Dr. Dean points to an approach to Christian Education that places mission or purpose at its core, I propose a different Christian Education starting point, education to parents.
The above bible passage (the Shema) has long been a credo for advocates of family-centered ministry. The idea behind this movement is that the church should be equipping parents to be the number one spiritual influence in their children's lives. Though this movement was started decades ago, I see little evidence of its impact on families and churches today. So the question arises, how does this ministry idea become a fact of life in the church and among Christian families? How can I better equip parents to be the spiritual heads in their home?

I am convinced that the answer to this question brings the solutions to many of the youth and children's ministry problems plaguing the church today. I do not think the lack of success in this area is caused by a lack of resources (two words…Sticky Faith). I think, rather, that the church needs to do more to engage parents in the faith formation of their child(ren). Apparently offering the occasional parenting class in church is not going to draw parents in. But why are parents so disengaged? Is it because they don't care? I think the answer is more likely that they are scared. They are scared for the same reasons why youth directors are scared to do relational ministry. It's risky; it requires them to be vulnerable. I think that parents relize that their children's faith is "off the mark" because their own faith is. Perhaps parents feel that they need to be the household pastor, theologian and biblical scholar if they are going to be a part of their child's faith development. Perhaps parents feel inadequate.

Just as a good youth worker would assure both her youth group and her volunteers that they don't have to have all the answers to follow Jesus, and to impact others, so too does a good "minister to families" assure parents that they do not have to have all the answers. I think we need to reframe it this way; to be engaged in a child's faith development a parent must simply decide to begin their own faith journey and decide to take their children with them. This is what the Shema Initiative is all about. This is my passion…this is my obsession…this is my calling! I hope that eventually others involved in church ministry will also feel that call.