Family Minister Job Description

Philosophy Statement

Parents are the primary Christian educators in the church, and the family is the God-ordained institution for building faith in young people and for passing faith from one generation to the next.

Nature of the Position

The Family Minister will assist parents with children and teenagers in the growth of their homes as homes of faith and grace. This will happen by planning, developing, and implementing a coordinated way for the Christian home to be the primary agency for faith formation

Homes are vital institutions to this faith community – they are the faith-teaching stations. Our homes provide the primary environment for our people to live out their faith. Our homes are light and salt for others to see Jesus and experience God and his love.

The Family Minister:

• Helps homes be centers for the growth of the Christian faith, and helps equip parents with faith-filled parenting and couple-relationship skills;
• Opens opportunities for homes to live out God’s will and love in their everyday lives – enabling home networks and providing Christian resources to help homes pass on the faith from one generation to the next;
• Motivates the people of the church to be Christian stewards of children – our most precious gift – who give themselves in service to God and neighbor;
• Encourages families to display their love for God and each other as a witness to Christ’s love in their neighborhood;
• Supports God’s plan for marriage and the family as the primary agency for faith formation;
• Lifts up, develops, and carries out an action plan for ministry – working with the pastor, staff, and congregation – based on our vision for homes as the primary agencies for faith formation; and
• Ensures that each home has the opportunity to know and live out God’s will, creating a place where God’s love abounds for all who live there and enabling the faith to be passed on from one generation to the next through the power of the Spirit.

Qualifications

The Family Minister must be an individual who …
• Is willing to grow in his or her field of expertise;
• Demonstrates a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through worship, prayer, and Bible study;
• Demonstrates a high level of Christian moral integrity;
• Is mature in the faith and exhibits an understanding of service within the church and a desire to apply his or her talents within that context;
• Has a broad working knowledge of church education and ministry for, to, and with children, junior highers, and senior highers;
• Is willing to use his or her gifts to encourage, equip, and train parents to help their homes be the primary agencies for faith formation;
• Has a working knowledge of marriage and the family and a willingness to use that knowledge to build strong Christian homes; and
• Understands the church to be a place that empowers the home to take its rightful place in the community as a Christian model of marriage and the family and is willing to create faith-development programs to support, encourage, and train parents toward that end.

Reporting Relationships

The Family Minister shall …
• Report to the senior pastor as team leader of the ministry staff; and
• Report to the church through the church elders.

Responsibilities

The Family Minister shall …
• Help the home and church develop and understand a home-centered ministry style in the church’s structure and programming
• Serve as team leader for our faith-development ministry;
• Mentor, empower and equip as needed those volunteers who have specific duties in developing faith in the home;
• Help parents grow in their skills as spiritual leaders in their homes – nurturing and guiding their children as God’s faithful people through a coordinated parent-home faith-development system;
• Provide resources, training, and opportunities for homes being dreamed of (engaged couples), new homes being formed (newly married couples), homes formed, and homes being reformed – to help families to be ready for the important ministry they will be asked to do in their homes;
• Provide opportunities for the nurturing of marriages and relationships in the home;
• Provide resources for developing a healthy family life.