I just finished reading Reimagining Church as Family by Rich Griffith and JJ Jones, with contributions from Shelly Melia, Larry Fowler, and Kevin Jones. It’s an incredibly thoughtful and important book on ministering to and with families of all shapes and arrangements in our current culture. The authors point out that while most churches focus their ministries towards traditional expectations of what family means, our culture is quickly leaving that model behind. A quarter of kids are growing up in single parent homes, and they pointed out that in recent years over 40% of babies are born to unmarried women.
One of the quotes that really jumped out at me was one from Dr. PJ Dunn, speaking of what it’s like for non-traditional families walking into church, put it this way: “Imagine being invited to a feast, only to be escorted to a folding table in the corner with plastic cups and leftover décor. Too often, this is how single adults feel in church spaces—welcomed, but not fully included. They may be offered a ministry ‘table,’ but it’s often separated, minimized, or temporary.”
I loved the personal stories from the authors; Dr. Rich Griffith’s descriptions of the challenges he has experienced as a single man who adopted sons was a powerful way of putting humanity to the call for transforming how we think about family in the church. The different authors spoke from the perspectives of single mothers, single fathers, foster parents, adoptive parents, grandparents who have become the parents to their grandchildren.
In the opening chapter, Dr. Jones writes, “I suggest a new model of family ministry: interdependent family ministry, in which every ministry in the church (not just family ministry) owns the discipleship of the family of faith.” Over the course of the book, the authors work towards that goal: challenging the readers to expand their definition of family ministry to something that encompasses the entire life of the church and every type of family. It was incredibly thought provoking and makes for an important resource for pastors and church leaders to read and consider. I know I came away from the book with a number of things on my radar now that were not before.
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