Why Families Matter

Viva wants to see children safe, well and cared for in the best possible way. This includes supporting children in families. While recognising that families face numerous pressures and that the shape and form of families differ vastly, research shows that children develop best when they are brought up in the care of loving and nurturing caregivers within their communities.

Because of this, it is recognised that the best way to provide care for children is to support them in their families and if children become separated from their families that they are enabled to reunite with them or be integrated into a new family environment.

Why Families Matter is a programme that is to be run by churches to help communities to grow in understanding as to why families are so important for children and how churches can nurture children and their families to be all that God intends.

Methodology

Why Families Matter a six-part series to be delivered in church small groups. Each of the six parts has a different theme which will help to build a holistic Biblical view of how God intended children and families to operate, and what provision He made within the community of faith when families find themselves in crisis. These are the six themes:

  1. God: because God has adopted us and is father to the fatherless, he is at the centre.
  2. Child: every child has inherent value and an unconditional right to holistic development.
  3. Family: a healthy family is the best environment for a child to develop and thrive.
  4. Church: the body of Christ is commissioned to care for the children without parental care and has the capacity to lead the local and global effort to end orphan hood
  5. Community: broad scale collaboration is required to transfer these core values across societies and see transformation occur.
  6. Commission: The mission is immense so we can only move forward with God’s commission to present life in all its fullness.

To run Why Families Matter, an initial workshop is run to train church leaders and children’s workers who will lead the programme in their churches. We have developed a 2-part toolkit for churches to use to run the course:

Part 1. Why Families Matter Study Guide provides a framework for Pastors to lead their churches in understanding how to support families and nurture children and can be used to guide discussions in Small Groups. (Español: Parte 1. Guía de Estudio Porque Las Familias Importan)

Part 2. Why Families Matter Resources for Children is to help Children’s Leaders prepare to teach Children the same principles about children needing a loving family. (Español: Parte 2. Porque Las Familias Importan para niños y niñas)

At the end of the workshop, participants plan how they will roll out ‘Why Families Matter’ with adults and children in their Churches. This could be through Pastors Teaching, small group discussion and activities with children.

Viva has produced the toolkit and resources needed by church representatives to teach Why Families Matter to their congregations. We are on hand with technical advice and input if needed.

Find out more?

Why Families Matter resources can accessed here:  Why Families Matter Overview and Why Families Matter Reflection

We would love to hear from you if you use the resource or have any questions about it. Please contact us on (+44) 1865 811 660 or info@viva.org

Other useful resources