How to Start Doing Family Worship

Family Worship: Part 3

Perhaps you recognize that this idea of Family Worship sounds nice…
You can see why it could be helpful. You might even want to start doing it someday, but you aren’t sure if you can pull it off or how to start?

I want to encourage you to take your first step.
(Or if you are “attempting” it already, then maybe to take the next step.)

Here are 3 important things to know about beginning Family Worship.

1. Keep it Simple

In my opinion, one of the beautiful things about Family Worship is that it’s simple.

We are reminded that Family Worship can be boiled down to three things.

1. Reading the Bible together

2. Singing together

3. Praying together.

That’s it.

Beyond those core elements, you can get as fancy as you want(!) but especially if you’re just getting started don’t get fancy.

One surefire way to sabotage yourself and your efforts is by starting too big.

I think keeping it simple is actually helpful at all ages of childhood, but this is especially true if you are trying to start Family Worship with little kids.

Don’t get fancy. Keep it simple.

Read the Bible. Sing a song. Pray.

Every family is different, and Family Worship can be modified in infinite ways, but especially if you’re just getting started: keep it simple.

Family Worship in my home takes 10 minutes lately.

“How is 10 minutes going to do anything good?”, you might ask me. But remember, I’m convinced that the real power of Family Worship is in its regularity. Family Worship is building castles one stone at a time.

Little kids can’t hold their attention for very long and that’s OK. When they get older, you’ll probably be able to do more, but when they are young, or when you are just beginning, keep it short. Keep it simple.

One of the long-term goals, in my opinion, of holding Family Worship is not to fill your kids with a bunch of Bible facts…

Rather, it’s to transform your family and your kids into “people who worship God every day”.

This is a transformation of who you are, not of what you know.
You are seeking to become the type of person who leads their family in worship.
To become the type of family that worships God together every day.

That leads us to a similar point:

2. Be Age-Appropriate

Family Worship should be age-appropriate for your family.

Sure, you want to get to something awesome like memorizing the catechism or digging into deep and important topics… But your kids aren’t conditioned for that you and probably neither are you.

Younger kids need to know the stories of the Bible. This will give them the pieces that they will later be able to use when putting together the larger themes of the Bible when they’re older and better at that type of thinking.

This may sound sacriligeous to some Family Worship purists out there, but right now we’re using a children’s Bible, and I think that’s OK. Read your children the stories. Help them to know the people that God used, who they are and what they did. We all need this knowledge first, so that we can understand Christ all the more when we see how Christ links Himself back to those people and those events.

Also, sing songs that they like to sing. Singing fun songs can be a great help in getting your kids to enjoy and look forward to Family Worship time. Get those kids praising God. :) You can certainly throw in a hymn or psalm too! But keep it simple.

As your children grow, and as you get more experience with Family worship, you can expand and deepen the things you do.

But at the same time, while the above 2 points are important, they could also takes in a wrong direction.

Even while this time is short (and maybe even fun…) you must hold Family Worship with reverance and impress upon your kids its great importance!

3. Expect Respectful Worship

You aren’t taking a lot of their time. You aren’t asking too much of anyone.

But this is worship. You are teaching your children worship!

No horsing around.
No wrestling their sibling.
No giggling through stories.
No singing in weird voices.

(Are you guessing that none of these are hypothetical?)

This is a time for worship. They need to know the reverance and complete hearts that their great God deserves.

But the most important thing is to “get off zero”.

4. Just Start!

Almost all first steps are shaky. You’re starting something new. Maybe you don’t have any experience with this at all.

Take that first step, knowing that it won’t need to be perfect, because it will end up being only one out of hundreds!

You’ll get better. Your family will get used to it. It will become ruitine. It will become beloved. But you gotta get started.

Finally,

5. Choose the Time Wisely

Will you do it before bedtime? First thing in the morning? After the evening meal?

Just like #4, you might not get it right at first, but think carefully about what works best for your family. This is important so that you can be consistent.

You want to make it a ruitine. A ruitine that you take seriously! A ruitine that you actually enjoy! But a ruitine nevertheless. You’ll soon find that your kids will be better at holding you accountable than you are of yourself. But the point is that you need to make Family Worship something that everyone knows is going to happen every day.

In a later article we’ll talk about failures and what to do when it doesn’t work.
But for now… take that first step. Or the next step, if you’re already on the road.

Place that next stone on the future castle of your childrens’ faith.