Our family loves the practice of “family worship.” Essentially, this means that the kids do not have separate times of worship, but do so with mom and dad. This includes our daily time together and also our corporate worship gatherings with other believers.  There are several reasons why people do not like this or want this and there are several great reasons to embrace it. Here are some quick thoughts I have:

The perceived problems with family worship:

• My kid can’t sit still long enough.
• My kid gets too bored.
• Kids are a distraction to my worship or the worship of others.

While these things sound legitimate at first, they really need to be rephrased. It should read: I haven’t been successful at instilling discipline in my children, they have learned that I don’t have much passion for the worship of the living God and children are ultimately really more of a bother than a blessing. I don’t say that in a condemning tone. After all, I once held all of the above as perceived problems in church life.  Obviously, more biblical training/discipline, parents who have a deep passion for worshiping God, and a healthy view of children (Matt. 19:14) will go a long way in alleviating those concerns.

The benefits of family worship:

• Helps the father lead his family well.
• Teaches children that they are valued and welcomed to fully participate.
• Creates the context for more gospel/teachable moments.
• Demonstrates the headship of Christ over his church and models this for the family.

I am sure there are more benefits and more objections. These are just some of the very real and practical experiences we’ve had in moving to a more family oriented form of corporate worship.