This book is designed to encourage families to involve themselves---together---in the Christian practice of service, and to guide congregational leaders in supporting that service.  The fruit of family service is a deeper understanding of one another, of what God is doing in the world, a reordering of their values and life together, and the development of a resilient faith in children and adolescents that will carry them into adulthood.  The book will feature the stories of actual, "ordinary" families our research team has interviewed and some from other literature.

Drawing on findings from The Church Census project, initially funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc, and the Families and Faith Project, also funded by Lilly Endowment, Inside Out Families seeks to help pastoral counselors, clergy, and teachers see the central function of community service, not only by individuals but also by families, in developing a vigorous, resilient faith in congregational life.

Level:  General/Seminary

Courses

• Pastoral Theology
• Family Ministry
• Mission Studies
• Sociology of Religion
• Church and Ministry

Diana Garland's work in the area of faith and families is well known for the empirical research with actual families that underlies the sociological and theological basis for her emphasis on faith development through family living.  This book will be no exception, as she moves beyond faith development as a dynamic of living in family to that of serving as a family in projects that fulfill the biblical principle of service as a form of loving one's neighbor.
---- Ray S. Anderson, Senior Professor of Theology and Ministry, Fuller Theological Seminary


TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. In the Family of Faith
2. Service and the Faith of Families
3. Why Families Serve
4. How Families Serve
5. What Happens with Families Serve
6. Congregations, Service and Families