Earlier this year Shawn Mathis, pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church (OPC), Denver, Colorado, wrote an article entitled What Is a Family Integrated Church? The article has a subheading that reads "Rejecting activities which separate children from parents," and this immediately lets the reader know about one of the core principles at the center of the Family … Continue reading "What Is a Family Integrated Church?" by Shawn Mathis
Is Age Segregated Sunday School Biblical? – Part 3
In Part 1 of this series, I discussed how it is that we may discern whether or not a ministry practice is Biblical. I hope all would agree with me that we may deem a practice to be Biblical not only if it is in keeping with Biblical prescriptions or precedents, while avoiding running afoul … Continue reading Is Age Segregated Sunday School Biblical? – Part 3
Is Age Segregated Sunday School Biblical? – Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, I discussed how it is that we may discern whether or not a ministry practice is Biblical. I hope all would agree with me that we may deem a practice to be Biblical not only if it is in keeping with Biblical prescriptions or precedents, while avoiding running afoul … Continue reading Is Age Segregated Sunday School Biblical? – Part 2
Is Age Segregated Sunday School Biblical? – Part 1
How to Determine Whether or Not a Practice is Biblical Today I am beginning a three part series that seeks to answer the question, “Is age segregated Sunday school Biblical?” But in order to answer the question, it seems to me that we must begin by establishing what we mean when we ask it. We … Continue reading Is Age Segregated Sunday School Biblical? – Part 1
"If the Family Is Central, Christ Isn’t" by John B. Carpenter
In a recent article published at The Christian Post website, yet another Reformed Baptist pastor has weighed in on the Family Integrated Church Movement. In an article entitled If the Family Is Central, Christ Isn't, John B. Carpenter, pastor of Covenant Reformed Baptist Church (in Caswell County, North Carolina, in the Danville, Virginia area) has … Continue reading "If the Family Is Central, Christ Isn’t" by John B. Carpenter
Church Is For Children Too
I recently read a very good article arguing for the importance of adults bringing their children into the regular worship services with them. It is a practice that we have been following for many years at Immanuel Baptist Church (a Reformed Baptist Church where I am privileged to serve as the primary teaching elder), and we … Continue reading Church Is For Children Too
Avoiding "a Messianic View of the Christian Family"
Lately Sam Waldron has been writing a series of blog posts addressing the Family-Integrated Church Movement (FICM). I highly recommend the whole series (which is still in progress), but today I want to highlight two of the articles in particular, which constitute parts 7 and 8 of the series thus far: Family-Integrated Church 7: Are … Continue reading Avoiding "a Messianic View of the Christian Family"
Church-Integrated Families Rather Than Family-Integrated Churches?
This is the issue with which Matthew Kingsbury, pastor of Park Hill Presbyterian Church in Denver, Colorado, deals in an article entitled The Church-Integrated Family. He begins the article by setting forth what he perceives to be the central Scriptural issue: We are at the beginning of the end of the American family as it has been … Continue reading Church-Integrated Families Rather Than Family-Integrated Churches?
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Confronts Two Current Errors About Church and Family
Before we consider the two errors I have in mind, it is appropriate first to briefly consider the meaning of the Jeremiah text, in which God promised through the prophet Jeremiah that He would one day establish a New Covenant with His people, a promise which found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ: NKJ Jeremiah 31:31-32 “Behold, the days … Continue reading Jeremiah 31:31-34 Confronts Two Current Errors About Church and Family
FICM Response to Reformed Baptist Critics
Back on October 16 I posted an entry entitled Reformed Baptists Address the Family-Integrated Church Movement. In it I gathered responses by Andy Dunkerton (one of the elders at Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Mebane, North Carolina), Sam Waldron (one of the elders at Heritage Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky, and Professor of Systematic Theology at the Midwest … Continue reading FICM Response to Reformed Baptist Critics