Q&As About Family Worship

What is family worship?

Just as we come together each week for a time of corporate worship as a local body of believers (the local church), our families are to gather for a time of family worship. Much of the same aspects apply, although they will likely look a little different from family to family and from the typical corporate worship service. Patrick Kavanaugh equates family worship to family meal time; just as we come together to eat a meal, we should also come together to worship the Lord. Unfortunately, both are increasingly rare in modern times.

Why should we participate in family worship?

We are commanded to teach our children about God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). We are instructed to teach our children the words of God and to talk to our children about God and his ways day and night. A focused time of family worship allows us to do that with intentionality. It allows them to see that God is glorious and that their parents value their own relationship with Him.

Can’t the church do a better job than I can?

No. God never intended for the church to take over our parental responsibilities. The church can certainly help (that’s what this site is for), but the job of raising children lies with parents.

When should we have family worship time?

Scheduling family worship time will be different from family to family because of the many different activities each of us engages in. For some families, mornings will work best; for others, the evening will offer more consistency. However you schedule your family worship times, be consistent!

Where do we find the time?

We set aside time for those things that are important to us, those activities we value. If you recognize the importance and necessity of family worship, you’ll make it a priority above other activities. With all of the competing activities vying for a family’s time, finding a time where everyone can sit down together and worship is going to be a definite challenge. Ask yourself this question: Out of all the possible activities we can be involved in, which ones have eternal significance? Do sports have eternal significance? School activities? Civic meetings? Another question to ask yourself might be: What does the Bible command us to do?

Who should lead family worship times?

Dads, the Bible teaches that you are your family’s spiritual leader (Ephesians 6:4, 1 Timothy 3:4-5); therefore, it’s up to you to lead the times of family worship. This doesn’t mean that you can’t delegate it out every once in a while. But it’s your responsibility to make sure it happens. For families without dads in the home, moms will need to lead the worship time.

What should we include in family worship time?

You’ll notice that each week in this guide includes four sections: Read, Pray, Sing, and Memorize. We recommend you include these elements regularly in your family worship times. Leaving one section out on occasion is okay if necessary; just don’t neglect it altogether.

How long should our family worship times last?

This really depends on the age and attention span of your children, but family worship times can be as brief as 10 to 15 minutes or as long as 30 minutes. Young children won’t last as long as older children. So try to strike a balance between training and disciplining (i.e., “discipling”) your children to focus and asking them to do something they’re just not ready to do yet.

How do we effectively involve the wide range of ages in our home?

Keeping the activities varied will help keep the interest of younger children while minimizing the boredom older children sometimes perceive they are experiencing. Often, when children complain of boredom, it’s because they’re not physically doing anything. While asking children to sit still and listen is appropriate and necessary at times, physical movement is also important because it fits with how children learn and assimilate information. Singing is an excellent way to actively engage children of all ages. Having younger children draw and older children write about how a particular Bible story applies to their lives is another way to develop a family worship time that engages many ages.

Another way to involve older children is to allow them to read the Bible passage or a story from a children’s story Bible during your family gathering. Make sure you’ve read through it first and know that your child can read it relatively well without stumbling over every word (perfection is by no means what you’re after here; but you don’t want to make the experience frustrating for the reader or the hearers). This will give your children confidence to lead in the public reading of God’s Word. Have older children take an active role in leading the prayer time. This will serve as an opportunity for you to teach your children how to pray meaningful prayers.

What do I do if my children seem disinterested?

There will be times early on in your journey into family worship (perhaps more often than not) that your children would rather play video games or ride their bikes than join in a family worship time. The key to successful family worship is consistency and diligence. Eventually, your children will come to realize that family worship is a part of their routine and they will come to expect it. Varied activities will serve to focus children’s attention while allowing them to have multiple ways to interact with the grace of God as it is relayed in scripture.

Do we need to read the Scripture passages word-for-word?

If possible, it’s a good idea to read the passages as you have them in your Bible. We strongly recommend that the family worship leader read the family passages prior to the worship time. If you think the passage is too long for your young children’s attention span or too difficult for your children to grasp, you can summarize the story and its principles. But be as faithful to the passage as possible. Remember, the Bible was originally passed down orally from generation to generation.

Does it matter what Bible translation we use?

No. Use the one you regularly use. As a general rule, we recommend using a translation that is as faithful to the original languages as possible. Therefore, we would not recommend using versions such as Today’s New International Version (TNIV) or paraphrases such as The Message for family worship times.

What if we’re travelling?

As we stated before, consistency is very important. We recommend that you maintain your family worship schedule even when you’re away on family trips. If one of the parents is travelling for business, the other parent can lead the family worship time. If their travel and work schedule allows, some travelling parents even make a commitment to call home so they can participate in the time with their family.

What if we have guests visiting in our home?

Include your guests in your family worship time. You never know what impact you might have on someone’s life by allowing them to participate with you.