June 25, 2001
Hope for Home offers family
ministry resources for Texas
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___Hope for Home family ministry consultants and volunteers represent about 10 percent of the churches related to the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and close to one-third of the members of the Texas Baptist family life "network" are from non-Anglo churches.
___The BGCT Christian Life Commission recently completed a survey to analyze thecurrent status of the Hope for Home family initiative, launched in 1997 among Texas Baptist churches.
THE JONES FAMILY--Dewayne, Whitney, Leonard and Tanya--participates in an exercise during the "Claiming God's Mission for Your Family" conference June 15 in Arlington. The Joneses attend East St. Paul Baptist Church. Adults and children participated together in the three-day meeting sponsored by the Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___The survey revealed that the Hope for Home network currently includes 108 certified consultants and 725 volunteers from 570 churches in 89 Baptist associations around the state.
___About 32 percent of the network of consultants and volunteers are from predominantly Hispanic, Asian or African-American churches.
___Those numbers do not include several hundred other individuals who have attended Hope for Home training events but are not currently serving with the network.
___Training events focus on presenting a model for family ministry that is built on increasing family strengths. Trained consultants learn how to conduct family ministry needs assessments in their churches and their communities.
___"This is not a one-size-fits-all program," said Phil Strickland, director of the BGCT Christian Life Commission and coordinator of the BGCT's Christian ethics and public life unit.
___"By conducting assessments, members of the Hope for Home network are able to help churches address real needs--not just perceived needs--in their congregations and local communities."
___The survey revealed that, as a result of the assessments, churches have begun offering a range of ministries, including marriage enrichment retreats, parenting seminars, support groups for divorced people and single parents, and intergenerational, hands-on family missions experiences.
___For more information, call (214) 828-5409.
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