Family Faith Formation Resources | Summer

This article is part of the Family Faith Formation Toolkit - a collection of resources for equipping ministry leaders, parents, and caregivers with family faith practices and resources, brought to you by Faith Formation Ministries.

In the following links you’ll find creative resources and practices for summer family faith formation to use both in community and at home. These ideas can be seamlessly woven into existing church programs and into family life.

Summer: In Community

Many congregations enjoy a slower pace during the summer months. By offering less programming, you may be able to provide more opportunities for intergenerational relationship building through church picnics and potlucks, sporting events, outdoor worship, community gardening, vacation Bible school, and more.

• Explore the faith practices of wonder, prayer, celebrating (and more!) with all ages. In this post you’ll find Everything You Need for An Interactive Series on the Faith Practices.

• You’ll find lots of inspiration in this list of 15 Outrageously Easy-to-Plan Summer Activities for Families.

• Get interactive ideas for worship, service projects, and large group gatherings in the Intergenerational Church toolkit.

• Summer is also a great time to incorporate storytelling into gatherings, whether they happen in church or around a campfire. The Faith Storytelling toolkit offers ideas to get you started.

• Illustrated Ministry makes jumbo-sized coloring posters designed to encourage faith-forming table talks. (Learn more in the post Talk, Paper, Scissors.) When and where might you use the posters to build relationships at your church?

• Take-Out Church: A Summer Tool for Home and Traveling and God on the Go showcase clever ways for congregations to support faith formation when people are away. How might your church build on these ideas to provide at-home resources for every household in your church community, including single adults, seniors, and those without children?

• Children’s ministry leaders will want to check out the suggestions in 9 Refreshing Ideas to Connect with Kids in Summer and the clever idea for supporting families while making good use of extra children’s resources in the post Left Overs?

Summer: At Home

• Summer can be the perfect time to try a new family devotional resource. At the end of the school year, consider blessing each family with a copy of Everyday Family Faith or a set of God’s Big Story cards. (If using the cards, you might wish to use the ideas in this Family Event as a way to introduce them to your families.)

• Kelli Dunn at City Reformed Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, created a summer family faith formation playlist for the families in the church. Consider creating a similar playlist for your own congregation.

• Summer can provide families with more opportunities to read together. Inspire them to do so with this list of Read with Empathy picture books and chapter books on peacemaking, kindness, gratitude, hunger, poverty, homelessness, diversity, and more.

• If you have a church library, consider making a table display of Bible storybooks for families to check out and try during the summer months. The post How to Choose a Children’s Storybook Bible includes a recommended reading list. It’s also a helpful post to share with households.  

• Use the ideas in A Super Fun Way to Help Families Form Faith This Summer to provide each family with a pail full of faith-forming fun.  

• Find Your Slow Summer is an example of a resource that a church can purchase and print for families to use at home.

• In her post on The 30-Minute Summer Sabbath author Jerusalem Greer gives families practical ideas for intentionally choosing to “pause and rest, to savor beauty, appreciate goodness, and celebrate and enjoy what God has created.”

• Speaking of Sabbath, encourage parents to take a breath and nurture their own spirits with this list of 30 mini-Sabbath ideas from Traci Smith.

• We love the resources from Doing Good Together. Here are some of our favorite summer-themed posts to share with families:

  • Make It Fun for Kids to Give Back includes eight ideas for making a difference in your community.

  • The Summer of Kindness Bucket List for beginners and a follow-up Advanced Edition for “more experienced do-gooders” offer dozens of ideas for spreading kindness and goodwill and caring for God’s creation

QUESTIONS?

If you’re part of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and you have questions about how to equip ministry leaders, parents, and caregivers with family faith practices and resources, one of Faith Formation Ministries’ Regional Catalyzers would love to talk with you about ideas and strategies.