Faith Formation at Home
At Home Resources
Faith Formation is an integral part of the Christian development throughout a person's life. Studies have shown that the most important faith formation takes place at home. Here are some activities to do as a family or individual to strengthen your connection with God and explore your faith when you are not at church. These activities come from the Follow Me
curriculum that our Children's LIFT classes are implementing.
This week: FAMILY PRAYER PROMPTS
To help weave prayer through all aspects of your family, incorporate prayer in the following ways, and ask family members for other ideas:
● When you hear an unsettling news story, hear the
noise of sirens, or experience a big storm in your area, pray for those who may be affected as well as those who are helping.
● At the start of each week, Sunday evening or Monday breakfast, pray for each family member’s coworkers, classmates, bosses, and/or teachers.
● Adopt a practice of “Wow, God!” prayers for when you see something breathtaking in nature, such as a waterfall, sunset, animal in the wild, and so forth.
● At bedtime, ask simple questions such as, “Who did you see today who could use our prayers?” and “What was one moment today that made you feel especially grateful?”
"Practicing the Practice At Home" Handouts
Unit for February 16-March 23
Unit for January 12-February 9
Unit for October 20-November 17
Story Books and Psalms
This Adult and Youth LIFT Class is exploring the themes in children's books and Psalms. Children's books are written to be read over and over. The Psalms were written to be used in worship over and over. It's in the repetition and simplicity that we can discover hidden themes and learn to grapple with anxieties that are present at every age. Below is the book and the Psalm read for each class along with questions you can discuss as a family, or ponder on your own.
Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
Does God care about where we live?
Does God want a home for all God's creatures?
What does it mean that "God gives the desolate a home to live in"?
Could Gerald (or Piggie) live well with a family of birds on his (or her) head?
How do we make sure God's creatures and our neighbors have homes while making sure we are cared for as well?
Psalm 13
What character’s thoughts might be expressed by this Psalm?
How does God call us to play with all creatures?
Do we do what Gerald and Piggie do, or do we treat people as the Psalmist feels?
In what ways does attempting success rather than allowing for failure hinder us, or leave people out?
How does God call us to keep trying rather than feel failure? In what ways does God keep trying in scripture?
Psalm 90
What connections do see between the ways our mortality is described in the Psalm and the reality that "all books end" in We Are in a Book!?
In what ways do children experience the weight of the world or gravity of situations, and are brushed aside for being too young?
In what ways do we tell kids that they have it easy, or have no responsibility, or imply they have nothing to worry about, they only need to have fun?
Willems escapes the harshness of the where the book is heading by saying the reader can just read the book again. But can the reader read the book again? If you start the book already knowing what will happen, is it ever new again?
Psalm 8
What does Sabbath mean to you?
Is there a place you associate with Sabbath?
Why is community important?
What are the connections between how we care for creation, and Sabbath and community?
Psalm 97
What is the connection between seeing something and believing something?
Who are the people in your life who have taught you to believe?
How does believing something make you see things differently?
Psalm 34
What affects do our actions have on other people? Other creatures?
What action is required from us for God's will to be carried out in the world?
How do the words in the Psalms, written by people to God, become words from God for us?
PC(USA) Resources for Parents and Caregivers
Around the Table is a Lilly Endowment Inc. funded initiative in the Presbyterian Church (USA) that will engage faith communities and parents and caregivers in innovative practices of sharing stories that grow intergenerational communities to support household faith formation.
Click here to learn more, and for access to resources, including a podcast, blog, and resource list.
FFC (Faith Formation Coordinators) Approved Resources
Good Kind makes fun, accesible tools for at home faith formation. Advent Blocks tell the story of God's people from creation through the birth of Jesus, making Advent a time to reflect on God's saving work in the world, not just a time to prepare for presents.
Gratikubes are a fun way to bring gratitude to into a family's daily life.
Easter Blocks tell the story of Jesus's final days during Holy Week in a very similar way that Advent Blocks do.
These are just some of the products Good Kind makes.
Traci Smith is a PC(USA) pastor and writer who focuses on ways to help families make everyday moments sacred. She has several books on traditions and prayers for family faith formation, as well as a website, weekly emails, and an Etsy store full of simple things for families to create faith formation at home.
