https://network.crcna.org/ The Network en Fri, 19 Apr 2024 23:15:22 +0000 Tue, 07 Jun 2022 14:34:46 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/ultimate-collection-family-faith-formation-resources If you were going to fill a gift basket with the ultimate collection of family faith formation resources for churches, which titles would you include? Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/ultimate-collection-family-faith-formation-resources Tue, 07 Jun 2022 14:34:46 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/super-fun-way-help-families-form-faith-summer The start of summer provides your church with a wonderful window of opportunity to give families with children faith-forming ideas and the tools they’ll need to try them at home. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/super-fun-way-help-families-form-faith-summer Tue, 17 May 2022 12:30:03 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/discussion-guide-open-wonder-bonus-episode-sandra-van During each episode of the Open to Wonder podcast, hosts Chris Schoon and yours truly explore with our guests all kinds of faith questions: big ones, small ones, weird ones, and hard-to-talk-about-in-church ones, and we invite listeners to imagine wh Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/discussion-guide-open-wonder-bonus-episode-sandra-van Wed, 23 Feb 2022 15:30:11 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/how-engage-your-church-conversations-about-beyond-sunday During each episode of the Open to Wonder podcast, hosts Chris Schoon and yours truly explore with our guests all kinds of faith questions: big ones, small ones, weird ones, and hard-to-talk-about-in-church ones, and invite listeners to imagine what Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/how-engage-your-church-conversations-about-beyond-sunday Mon, 10 Jan 2022 16:47:14 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/four-fresh-ways-tell-christmas-story-family-gatherings Between eating dinner, exchanging gifts, and engaging in conversation at the annual Christmas gathering, sometimes our family has forgotten to retell the story that we’ve come together to celebrate. Sound familiar? Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/four-fresh-ways-tell-christmas-story-family-gatherings Tue, 26 Oct 2021 13:26:53 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/5-intergenerational-ideas-marking-return-worship-after Each Sunday after online worship during the first four months of the pandemic, I placed the story prop I’d just used for the children’s message in a large, leather-bound box. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/5-intergenerational-ideas-marking-return-worship-after Tue, 11 May 2021 15:45:59 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/fabulous-and-free-idea-help-families-celebrate-pentecost As someone raised in the 1970s by Dutch immigrant parents living in small-town Ontario, I grew up at a time when smoking was encouraged, dancing was forbidden, and at the top of the list of things to fear were The Supernatural and Charismatic Church People.   Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/fabulous-and-free-idea-help-families-celebrate-pentecost Sat, 27 Mar 2021 17:51:59 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/how-help-families-celebrate-holy-week-home Prior to the pandemic, the only time a family may have experienced the stories of Holy Week was during the hour or two they spent inside the walls of a church building on Palm Sunday and Easter weekend. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/how-help-families-celebrate-holy-week-home Tue, 09 Feb 2021 14:15:23 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/super-ideas-making-and-using-jesse-tree-gods-big-advent We have been overwhelmed with the incredible response to the free resource  Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/super-ideas-making-and-using-jesse-tree-gods-big-advent Tue, 24 Nov 2020 14:39:34 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/what-families-your-church-really-need-christmas After our second child was born, a colleague at the local public school where my husband worked sent us a package in the mail. Inside it was gift-wrapped copy of The Children’s Bible in 365 Stories by Mary Batchelor. He knew we were Christians. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/what-families-your-church-really-need-christmas Sat, 21 Nov 2020 17:29:23 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/advent-envelope-wonderful-way-help-families-form-faith As a young mom with zero experience celebrating Advent at home, I sewed a Jesse Tree calendar, decorated 24 paper symbols to tuck inside the pockets, and hung it up on our living room wall. The idea to make the tree had been planted in my mind by an older church member who showed me hers. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/advent-envelope-wonderful-way-help-families-form-faith Mon, 02 Nov 2020 13:18:04 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/wonderful-way-help-families-form-faith-home-fall I love the ways in which virtual church gatherings have given us glimpses into the lives of our families with children. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/wonderful-way-help-families-form-faith-home-fall Tue, 21 Jul 2020 13:36:01 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/moving-mothers-day-video-online-worship-during-covid-19 Last year I shared ideas for what to do and what not to do in church on Mother's Day in this post. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/moving-mothers-day-video-online-worship-during-covid-19 Tue, 05 May 2020 23:38:58 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/maybe-what-we-need-most-right-now-bedtime-song Last month I changed my email profile picture to a preschool photo of myself. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/maybe-what-we-need-most-right-now-bedtime-song Sat, 25 Apr 2020 18:50:43 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/try-home-4-resources-lent Full disclosure: when my children were young their Lent experiences consisted of eating pancakes for supper on Shrove Tuesday and bearing witness to the growing pile of empty Paczki boxes in the Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/try-home-4-resources-lent Sun, 16 Feb 2020 20:52:30 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/star-words-faith-forming-and-free-family-christmas-gift Each year I present my family with a shared Christmas gift. Tickets to a movie, a board game, and reservations at the bowling alley were all big hits; matching wool hats with pompoms, not so much.  Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/star-words-faith-forming-and-free-family-christmas-gift Tue, 17 Dec 2019 14:30:42 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/might-be-best-jesse-tree-set-ever Ever since Faith Alive developed the popular God’s Big Story cards as a faith formation tool for churches to share with families, I’ve been dreaming of a way to use the cards’ beautiful story Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/might-be-best-jesse-tree-set-ever Tue, 05 Nov 2019 16:32:59 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/church-your-families-need-help-and-adding-more-programs Recently I facilitated a workshop on family faith formation for a group of parents whose children ranged in age from newborns through young adults. We began with a reading of Deuteronomy 6:5-9—our call from God to form the faith of our children: Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/church-your-families-need-help-and-adding-more-programs Tue, 20 Aug 2019 13:23:02 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/encourage-kids-equip-parents-these-faith-forming-back Each fall the children and youth in your church mark a significant milestone: the beginning of the school year. Adjusting to new routines and unfamiliar teachers while navigating friendships and managing expectations places all sorts of pressure on both kids and their parents. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/encourage-kids-equip-parents-these-faith-forming-back Tue, 06 Aug 2019 12:24:33 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/back-school-blessing Several years ago, on the Sunday before Labor Day, the morning announcer in a church I was attending asked all the children present to raise their hands if they were starting school the following Tuesday. Karen DeBoer https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/back-school-blessing Mon, 29 Jul 2019 14:27:20 +0000