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Massachusetts Conference Edition
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Author offers 10 ways to practice faith at homeDecember 2007 / January 2008
Author Rev. Deborah Payden would argue that such work does not end with the season, but that families should be thinking about how to bring the presence of God into their daily lives all year long. Speaking at recent Massachusetts Conference Resource Center Open House, Payden – Associate Minister of the First Congregational Church in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and co-author of ‘Celebrating at Home: Prayers and Liturgies for Families’ – presented ideas, traditions and rituals, practices and theories to help educators and pastors empower families to do ministry. “I wrote this book and hope to help nurture Christian practice at home because I have a passion for family ministry, and the domestic church is the primary place for Christian faith formation,” said Payden. The home is the domestic church. The congregation is the communal church. And in both places Christian faith is taught, shaped and nurtured, she explained. “It is what we experience in our households on a daily, weekly and yearly basis that has the biggest impact on what it means to live our lives as followers of Jesus,” said Payden. “Parents, guardians, and all family members need to be aware of what and how they are teaching the faith through their words and actions. Children learn most by the role modeling shown by parents and other significant adults in their lives. It is in our homes where we are called to reflect the essence of God’s love as witnessed through Jesus Christ by nurturing an environment.” Payden offers ten ways to have a conscious awareness of the presence of God in our daily lives, and acknowledge this presence in tangible ways (see box below). “Although the home is the primary place for Christian practice and nurture, we need to be careful and not idolize it,” she said. “First, our homes are not perfect. There is no perfect Christian family! We all have pain, hurt and brokenness. We are all in need of healing and help in practicing what it means to be the domestic church. Second, the Christian faith is a communal one. We are not to live our lives in isolated units. Nor are we to think too highly of our family at the expense of others.” “We are called into the larger communal church, and it is there where we celebrate being God’s people and struggle together to discern what it means to live as disciples of Jesus in our world,” she continued. “In the congregation we have a big family of brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, mothers and fathers to love and support us. Through Jesus we are called together to be a new family!”
All members of the Massachusetts Conference are invited to visit the Resource Center in Framingham and browse through the Advent and Christmas education and worship resources, resources for use in the home, Sunday school materials, children’s books, as well as ideas churches and families can use throughout the church year. Contact Martha Cook at cookm@macucc.org for more information.
Deborah Payden is an ordained minister serving at First Congregational United Church of Christ in South Milwaukee, WI with her husband, Tom. She is the mother of two grown daughters. Besides being a writer of faith formation materials, Rev. Payden has a consulting ministry in faith formation. She provides leadership for presentations, workshops and retreats. You can contact Deborah at tdrev2@wi.rr.com.
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Often at this time of year, Christians find themselves working hard to maintain a sense of the true meaning of Christmas amidst the hustle and bustle of the season.