Family the Forming Center: A Vision of the Role of Family in Spiritual Formation

by Marjorie J. Thompson

The first place most of us experience God and learn the values that shape our lives is within the family. Is it any wonder, then, that all manner of current social ills are blamed on the disintegration of family life?
Children need to see that the spiritual life is significant to their parents at home as well as at church. If your home life differs from the image you present at church, your kids will see faith as contrived and irrelevant.
In this revised and expanded edition, Thompson suggests models, rituals, and celebrations that will inspire your children to grow spiritually and will help center your family on God. Family the Forming Center will help you, as parents, develop close family relationships filled with God's love, trust, and values.

Genres: Parenting, Family, Faith, Theology

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Marjorie J. Thompson is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She received her B.A. in religious studies from Swarthmore College, and her M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary. Following a post-graduate pastoral internship, she became a Research Fellow at Yale Divinity School where she studied Christian spirituality with Henri Nouwen and did independent research in ecumenical traditions of prayer. She has served as director of the Pathways Center for Spiritual Leadership and as spiritual director to Companions in Christ, a program outgrowth of the Pathways initiative of Upper Room Ministries. Companions in Christ is a small-group resource for spiritual formation in local congregations, suited to ecumenical use. Marjorie has exercised a ministry of teaching, writing, and spiritual guidance for many years.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful examination of the family as the primary spiritual formation unit. Carefully avoids making the nuclear unit an object of idolatry. Excellent bibliography for people interested in child and family spirituality lived in the context of the Christian church. I especially liked her chapter on becoming a "sacred shelter".

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thompson lays out a beautiful biblical vision of the family, providing tangible ideas to impliment the concepts she is presenting within a home. She has a clear, easy style that is a delight to read. I will reread this book at some point!

[Anugrah Lindawati · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really want to read this book. The title is very awesome and make me desire to read it and want to know deeper about this book. Thank you :)

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I knew going in that the book was not aimed at me. I'm not actually a practicing Christian (very lapsed Catholic is as close as I get), and my boys are grown. I'm soon to be a household of one. But I wanted to read it because as a parent the spiritual life of my children and me was important -- the values that I taught them was central to what I thought a family was supposed to be. And a lot of this book talks about that, although when they got down to specifics about scripture reading and supporting the church I'd just skip along.

Anyway, it does a good job of passionately centering the family as the primary source of moral values, and also how that common sense approach isn't always how we actually structure things, letting church or school or whatever take over that role.

[Jonathan Mays · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foundational for how churches can best care for children and families.