BIBLICAL PARENTING Part One
THE CHURCH CAN HELP PARENTS DISCIPLE THEIR KIDS AT CHURCH AND HOME TOGETHER

BY JACK EGGAR

Pastors and church congregations of all denominations know the words in Proverbs 22:6,   “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” There is a general agreement the focus here is on parents. The Lord calls upon dads and moms to TRAIN their children spiritually and morally. But how is this best accomplished? After all, we parents love our kids and want them to know and serve Jesus with all their hearts.

Hello, my name is Jack Eggar, and I served Awana Clubs International as president and CEO for 16 years. We helped churches worldwide evangelize millions of children and teens, but the illusive butterfly we call ‘next generation discipleship’ was perhaps our most difficult undertaking ever. Parents are to disciple their children? The first time I heard this, I immediately responded, “Someone please give me chapter and verse!” Here it is:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 (NIV)

But how can parents effectively disciple their children when they themselves have received little training on biblical parenting? One day, the answer came to me while reading from the Book of Ephesians. The chief role of church pastors is to “Prepare God’s people for works of service so the body of Christ (His church) may be built up…” It suddenly dawned on me while reading this that the Lord uniquely prepares pastors to train, empower, and activate all members of the church family, including parents!

Can the church build a special bridge to member homes so parents are adequately trained and commissioned to begin biblical conversations with their children? Absolutely! But where should we test such a concept? How about somewhere far away so that if we completely fail, no one here in the United States would know? In 2019, we launched our church-to-home experiment in places like Portugal, Tanzania, Burundi, and India. Several hundred pastors agreed to be used as a spiritual laboratory to help us determine whether or not pastors could lead and serve parents as ministry captains.

Our uncertain beginning soon became an international movement in over 50 countries today. Pastors are seeing themselves as both shepherds and captains. What does a captain do? He trains his troops for battle and then personally leads them into battle. Pastors are looking at their church members with a fresh view. Dads and moms are to be trained for spiritual battle, and then they are to be personally led into action by none other than respected pastors worthy of a parent’s trust.

In bringing this idea, we now call the Pastor~Parent Partnership to North America, we soon realized that pastors on this continent are very busy people. They can’t simply walk away from their current assignment to pursue something that will certainly require time and more personal sacrifice. The solution? We began with the first chapter of James. If anyone lacks wisdom…ask the Lord! When the lights did go on, our team acted in faith. Here’s what we discovered.

American Bible colleges and churches have trained and hired youth pastors and children’s ministry pastors to touch countless lives for years. These energetic leaders have done so very much to help churches forever change so many young people. But can this spiritual influence also be extended all the way into the homes of the church family? Furthermore, can the many hours required to ” make a disciple” according to the four gospels be accomplished together in the home and church?

We call it the Family Pastors Institute. This one-year training course exists to help pastors produce more spiritual fruit by reaching far beyond the four walls of the church building. We do this by training family pastors who will effectively become the feet, hands, and voice of the senior pastors they serve. As parents are prepared and appointed for spiritual duty at home, the family pastor serves them well and keeps the family connected closely to the church family.

Can the church help parents discipline their kids at church and home together? Certainly! You are now invited to build this important bridge from church to home. Let us help you by training a representative from your church. Regardless of the size of your church, a family pastor will fill an important role going forward. Family Pastors Insitute is ready to stand with the local church and support the senior pastor, family pastor, and home to biblically parent and disciple the next generation of followers of Jesus!

Jack D Eggar
Family Pastor’s Institute

jacke@gcnfamily.org

Family Pastors Institute©2023