Christianity Today Book Award—Marriage and Family
Half of Christian high school students walk away from their faith after graduation. But parental involvement is the most influential predictor of a child's spirituality throughout their lives. How do we parent our kids in ways that lead to lasting faith?
Sarah Cowan Johnson unpacks how parents can have an active discipleship role in forming their children's faith, with age-appropriate insights and strategies for different developmental stages. She shows how we can identify God moments, facilitate spiritual encounters, clarify emerging beliefs, and encourage new faith habits in our children.
Filled with exercises and activities for families to do together, this handbook is an essential resource for discipling children with confidence and creativity.
Please refer to the supplemental PDF for any accompanying materials.
<p>Introduction<br />
1. The Bad News<br />
2. A Little Yeast<br />
3. The Good News<br />
4. Responsive Discipleship<br />
5. Yucky Hearts and Aslan Anxiety: Leading Our Kids Through God Moments<br />
6. Proactive Discipleship<br />
6¾. An Introduction to John Westerhoff<br />
7. Ages Zero to Six: The Experiential Stage<br />
8. Ages Seven to Eleven: The Affiliative Stage<br />
9. Ages Twelve to Eighteen and Beyond: The Searching and Owned Stages<br />
10. Using the First Path Guide<br />
11. Steal These Ideas: Shared Family Practices<br />
12. Following Through<br />
Acknowledgments<br />
Appendix A: First Path Guide<br />
Appendix B: Family Path Guide<br />
Notes<br />
Bibliography</p>
Sarah Cowan Johnson is a ministry trainer, consultant, and coach who works with church planters, pastors, and ministry leaders across the United States. She leads seminars for parents on family discipleship to help their children walk in the way of Jesus. She served with the Evangelical Covenant Church as the executive pastor for Sanctuary Church in Providence, Rhode Island, and previously was a staff trainer and an area director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She is the cohost of The People of the Way podcast. She and her husband have two sons and live in Providence.