family ministry Archives - Timothy Paul Jones

Family Ministry: When the Coronavirus Hits Home

11th May 2020

“I’m having a really hard time breathing.” One day earlier, our oldest daughter had stayed home from work because of a low-grade fever. By the time Hannah called us from her apartment, the fever had refused to recede, and she was struggling to breathe. “Drive yourself to the emergency room,” my wife told her, “and […]

Family Ministry: What Should We Do with Children in Community Groups?

18th February 2020

One question that I frequently receive from churches runs something like this: “There are so many children in our community groups! We want to do something with them, but we can’t figure out what to do. Right now, groups are just hiring babysitters, but there’s got to be a better way. What do we do […]

Family Ministry: Leaving Behind the One-Eared Mickey Mouse Model of Youth Ministry

28th January 2020

In the late 1980s, one student minister depicted the relationship between his ministry and the rest of his congregation as a “one-eared Mickey Mouse.” To understand this analogy, imagine with me the most basic depiction of Mickey Mouse in three circles—the two smaller circles represent his ears, while the larger circle is his head. Now, […]

Family Ministry: Who Is Responsible for the Discipleship of Your Children?

31st December 2019

Discipleship is Too Important to Hand Over to Specialists There are some tasks so significant that they can’t be surrendered to someone else. Taking your spouse on a date, for example. Think of it this way: Suppose I called my wife this afternoon and announced, “Honey, guess what? Remember how you asked about a date […]

Family Ministry: The Simplicity of Family Discipleship

10th April 2019

How does family discipleship happen? The same way that we “disciple” our children in certain sports and certain teams. Read this brief post to find out how to form your children’s souls in the same way you form their preferences in sports.

Family Ministry: When and Why Did Weekly Children’s Classes Begin in Churches? (Part Two)

28th November 2017

This research into the history of age-organized ministries in the church is based on an academic paper that I presented to the practical theology section of the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 16, 2017. This post is the second in a three-part series. Click here for Part […]

Family Ministry: When and Why Did Weekly Children’s Classes Begin in Churches? (Part One)

27th November 2017

When did age-organized ministries for children begin? If you thought children’s classes didn’t begin until the introduction of Sunday School, you have a lot to learn!

Family Ministry: DiscipleGuide Church Leaders Cruise

14th June 2017

Interested in apologetics and family ministry? If so, then you’re likely to be interested in this upcoming conference. God willing, I will be part of an experience in January 2018 that will bring together apologetics and family ministry in a way that will equip you and your church’s staff for far more effective future ministry.

Family Ministry: The Discipline of Generational Diversity (Part 1)

24th May 2017

The Function of the Family in the Storyline of God At the center of God’s story stands this singular act: In Jesus Christ, God personally intersected human history and redeemed humanity at a particular time in a particular place. Yet this central act of redemption does not stand alone. It is bordered by God’s good […]

Family Ministry: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, and Where We Might Go

22nd May 2017

The first family ministry book I ever read was Family-Based Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries. My first response was to reject family ministry as a preposterous idea in my particular context. It took two years for the struggles of ministry and the work of the Holy Spirit to change my mind.

Family Ministry: A New Definition for Family Ministry (Part 3)

17th May 2017

I delivered this paper on an expanded definition for family ministry in May 2017 at the HOUSE Conference in Australia, a conference sponsored by YouthWorks and themed around the intersection between family ministry and ecclesiology. This post is the third part of a three-part series. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 _____ A RENEWAL OF […]

Family Ministry: A New Definition for Family Ministry (Part 2)

16th May 2017

I delivered this paper proposing a revised definition for family ministry in May 2017 at the HOUSE Conference in Australia, a gathering sponsored by YouthWorks and themed around the intersection between family ministry and ecclesiology. This post is the second part of a three-part series articulating the need for a revised definition for family ministry. Part […]

Family Ministry: A New Definition for Family Ministry (Part 1)

15th May 2017

I delivered this paper proposing a revised definition for family ministry in May 2017 at the HOUSE Conference in Australia, a gathering sponsored by YouthWorks College and themed around the intersection between family ministry and ecclesiology. This post on a revised definition for family ministry is the first part of a three-part series. Part 1 Part […]

Blog: Most-Read Posts of 2016 and Plans for 2017

3rd January 2017

Around twenty-seven thousand people racked up nearly one hundred thousand views of this blog in 2016. If you were one of them, thank you! Since there are no advertisements on my site, I don’t profit from any of the content. And so, if you’ve profited from what I’ve written, please consider purchasing a book (or two […]

Leadership: Learning to Do Less So Parents in Your Church Can Do More

23rd August 2016

Parents in your ministry don’t have time to disciple their children—or, at least, that’s the way many of them feel when they look at their weekly to-do lists. According to comprehensive surveys and interviews with hundreds of parents, half of all church-involved parents have simply resigned themselves to the notion that their families are too busy […]

Family Ministry: The Importance of Apologetics Training for Parents

18th August 2016

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of sitting down with Ron Hunter—founder and director of the D6 Conference—to talk about my passion for training parents to equip their children to defend what they believe. Joel Teague joined in the discussion as well and described his experiences as a missionary in a secularized context. […]

Family Ministry: D6 Conference in Louisville

17th August 2016

Every year, I look forward to attending and speaking at the premier family ministry conference in the United States, coming up September 21-23 this year in Louisville. The conference is known as D6—short for “Deuteronomy 6”—and I’ll be speaking twice at the D6 Conference this year. Here are the two topics that I’ll be addressing:

Family Ministry: Parenting Conference in St. Louis

10th August 2016

How can God’s story reshape the way you parent your children? That’s the question that I’ll be answering at an upcoming parenting conference in the city of St. Louis!

Family Ministry: Three Models for Ministry to Families

4th August 2016

When asked to provide a step-by-step process for implementing family ministry, Mark DeVries jokingly provided this progression: “Try something. Fail. Try something else. Fail again. Try something else. Stumble on one thing that works. Repeat what works. Try something else … you get the idea.” I appreciate Mark’s honesty and good humor, and there’s certainly […]

Family Ministry: PROOF Pirates Book and Vacation Bible School Material

6th November 2015

Chore charts. Report cards. Standardized tests. Athletic banquets. Kids are inundated with messages about their performance. Because performance—work and reward—is one of the basic structures of our lives, kids often grow up thinking, “I am what I am because of what I do . . . or because of what I’ve failed to do.” How […]