The Reality

 

o    Mom and Dad are the top two spiritual influencers in a child’s life, with       any spiritual formation that happens at home being 2 to 3 times more         influential than any church program. Yet:

 

          •   Fewer than 10% of parents who regularly attend church with                     their kids read the Bible together, pray together (other than at                     meal times), or participate in an act of service as a family unit.

 

          •   Only 28% of churched youth have talked with mom about faith. 

 

          •   Only 13% of churched youth have talked with dad about faith.

 

The Result

 

o    69-94% of evangelical children are leaving the church shortly after they graduate from high school. That’s 6-9 of our children out of every 10 that will walk away from their faith.

 

The Solution

 

o    Capitalizing on the built-in influence of mom, dad, and spiritual                   formation in the home.

 

o    Making 2-degree shifts in church ministries to better equip and                   challenge our congregation members to bring home and live out faith         and discipleship in their everyday contexts.

 

Faith@Home Ministries exists to come alongside churches and families as they follow God into this movement and attempt to be the solution. More specifically, Samantha’s ministry will be to partner with church leaders (and families) that have a desire for Faith@Home, but are still learning what it means to live that out in their churches and homes. There are a lot of voices out there identifying this problem and championing a home-focused solution, yet now that people are aware of the problem, they still need support and realistic strategies in living and sustaining a home focus. This is where her ministry comes alongside to meet the need.

 

Pastor Mark Holmen, international missionary to the Faith@Home Movement and leader of Faith@Home Ministries, had this to share about my new role in the movement:

 

“As a Faith@Home Ambassador, Samantha will be partnering with churches to help them develop a customized and integrated Faith@Home strategy that will help churches reestablish the home as the primary place where faith is nurtured.  Statistics clearly showcase the fact that, for many, faith is being lived, expressed and nurtured at church but it is not continuing as a lifestyle that is being lived at home.  As a result, children are being raised in hypocritical environments where faith is something you do at church and not at home and as a result, later in life, they are walking away from their Christian faith.  Pastors and church teams agree that faith should be lived and nurtured in the home yet very few churches have an intentional strategy for equipping their people to be 24/7, faith@home-focused followers of Christ.  Samantha, as a trained Ambassador for Faith@Home ministries (www.faithathome.com) is equipped to help churches and families reestablish the home as the primary place where faith is lived, expressed and nurtured.”