For Families
Worship at Home
The Christian family is the church in miniature. Long before our children sit beside us in the assembly on the Lord’s Day, they are watching us at the dinner table, in the car, on our knees by the bed. The faith that shapes a household on Tuesday is the faith that produces saints on Sunday. We commend the historic practice of family worship — daily, simple, biblical — as one of the most important things a Christian family can do.
A Biblical Command
Talk of them when you sit, walk, lie down, and rise.
When God brought Israel out of Egypt, he did not tell them only to gather at the tabernacle. He commanded their fathers to teach their children: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:7). Centuries later the same charge falls to Christian fathers: “Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).
Family worship is not a Reformed Baptist innovation. It is the way Christian households have raised the next generation in the fear of the Lord for as long as there has been a church. The Puritans built it into the rhythm of every day. So do we. See our article: Should children stay in the worship service?
Three Movements
Read · Sing · Pray.
Family worship does not need to be long or elaborate. Fifteen minutes a day will form your children more than two hours a week ever can. The historic pattern is just three movements:
- Read. Open the Scriptures together. Work through a Gospel, the Psalter, or a steady chapter-a-day through the Bible. Read aloud. Comment briefly. Let the Word do its work.
- Sing. A psalm, a hymn, a spiritual song. Even one verse. Even off-key. Your children will remember the songs you sang in your kitchen for the rest of their lives.
- Pray. Confess sin. Thank God for the day. Pray by name for missionaries, members of the church, neighbors. Teach the children to pray aloud.
That’s it. That’s the pattern. It has shaped Christian families for centuries.
Catechize at Home
A faithful summary, one question at a time.
Alongside the daily reading of Scripture, we commend the use of a catechism — a structured series of questions and answers that walks a child (or any believer) through the main truths of the Christian faith.
PMBC catechizes from the 1689 Baptist Catechism (sometimes called Keach’s Catechism) and the Tune My Heart Catechism. One question per week appears in the bulletin; we recommend working through it as a family at home. Over a year or two, your children will know the gospel by heart — not because they were quizzed, but because they were taught.
The Church and the Home
We work together.
Family worship and corporate worship are not rivals. They are partners. What is taught at home is anchored in the Lord’s Day; what is sung in the assembly is rehearsed during the week.
At Pray’s Mill we support family worship by:
- Sitting children with their parents in the assembly, so they learn what worship is by seeing it
- Printing a catechism question each week in the bulletin
- Preaching expositionally, so that families can read ahead in Scripture and prepare
- Encouraging fathers in their calling, and praying with the home in mind
- Singing hymns and psalms that families can carry into the week
We do not outsource Christian formation to children’s programs. We support the home as the home does its God-given work.
To Get You Started
A small reading list.
- The Baptist Catechism (Keach), with proof texts — available free online or in print
- Family Worship by Don Whitney — a short, practical 64-page book
- A Theology of the Family by Jeff Pollard and Scott Brown — Reformed Baptist perspective
- Psalms and Hymns to the Living God (G3 Press) — the hymnal we use in our pews: historic hymns and psalms set to congregational tunes
We have copies of several of these in the foyer. Ask a pastor or elder, and we will be glad to put one in your hand.
Family worship is not a heroic effort. It is just turning toward God together — in your living room, at your kitchen table, on your knees by the bed — every day, until those daily acts shape a generation.