“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah” Psalm 46:1-2, 11 NKJV
Family ministry perspectives in the Middle Ages. The advent of imperial favor in the early fourth century and the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century led to the primary locus of Christian practice being gradually shifted from the private sector of the home and family to dedicated institutional structures (Anthony, 2011, p. 159). This increasing centralization and professionalization of religious life along with decreased literacy among the laity is key to understanding the state of family ministry in the Medieval Period which lasted for a millennium from about 500 AD until the birth of the Renaissance (Rienow, 2013, p. 197). These were also known as the Dark Ages because, explains Rienow (2013), the wise pastoral warnings issued to fathers in the fifth century by Augustine of Hippo regarding family discipleship were not heeded thus further rendering laymen as second-class spiritual citizens (pp. 197-198). For example, in 430 AD, ecclesiastical authorities began to apply texts like Deuteronomy 6:6-7 to monastic life instead of family life (Rienow, 2013, p. 198). On the other hand, others like Caesarius of Arles, a sixth century AD bishop in southern Gaul, exhorted parents to engage in family discipleship with sacred reading “among your company at home” for several hours in the evening (Caesarius as cited in Stinson, 2011, p. 101).
Moving into the seventh century AD, despite medieval scholasticism being heavily influenced by Augustinian theology, C. Michael Wren Jr. explains that scholars paid little attention to Augustine’s emphasis on the importance of discipling one’s own children (Stinson, 2011, p. 105). Gregory the Great was instrumental in establishing the papacy and began to transfer parental obedience of children exhorted in texts like Colossians 3:21 to the obedience of parishioners to priests thus setting in motion jurisdictional confusion between the local church and the Christian family (Gregory as cited in Rienow, 2013, p. 198). In similar fashion, Hugh of St. Victor overlooked the positive role of parents in the discipleship of their children in his work On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith (Hugh of St. Victor as cited in Stinson, 2011, p. 105).
Breaking rank with Gregory and Hugh, thirteenth century theologian, Thomas Aquinas echoed Augustine’s emphasis with respect to at least the role but not necessarily the locus of family discipleship with the production of the manual of instruction, The Catechical Instructions of St. Thomas Aquinas (Aquinas as cited in Stinson, 2011, pp. 105-106). Finally, Jean Gerson became chancellor of the University of Paris in 1395 and focused much attention on the need for church reform with an emphasis on parental discipleship of their progeny (Gerson as cited in Stinson, 2011, p. 107). The moral and spiritual formation of children was viewed by Gerson as strategically important not only for families but also for the entire church.
Beyond such key figures, there were some grass-roots efforts among the priests who served as pastors in communities otherwise known as the “secular clergy” whose meager training left them rather incompetent to make much of a difference in the face of such massive ecclesiastical structures and widespread illiteracy that rendered laymen wholly dependent on professionals for their spiritual welfare (Stinson, pp. 108, 112). Family ministry perspectives in the Middles Ages had, for the most part, downgraded the strategic role of the natural family as a divinely ordained central engine to world evangelization (Rienow, 2013, p. 198).
Family ministry perspectives in the Reformation. Subsequent to the pervasive spiritual darkness of the Medieval Period, God’s Spirit ignited the unquenchable flame of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century with the likes of Martin Luther and John Calvin which profoundly altered the shape of Christianity including the church’s understanding of family ministry (Stinson, 2011, p. 115). In the providence of God, this movement came on the heels of others like Johan Guttenberg who invented the moveable type printing press and John Wycliffe who was one of the first to begin translating the Bible into English thus increasing literacy and setting the stage for spiritual transformation among the masses (Rienow, 2013, p. 198). At the theological heart of the Reformation was the biblical doctrine of justification but practically many other aspects of life were reexamined in light of Scripture including marriage, manhood, womanhood, fatherhood, motherhood, courtship, child rearing, fertility, and virtually every area that affects family life (Pollard, 2014, p. 36).
Martin Luther beckoned to fathers in Germany to reinstate the former glory of Christianity, that had fallen to the wayside during the Middle Ages, by assuming their chief duty of caring for the souls of their children as precious jewels entrusted to them by God as safe keeping (Anthony, 2011, p. 160). In being responsible to instruct their children in godliness, Luther claimed, that the spiritual leadership of fathers is likened unto serving as bishops and priests in their homes (Anthony, 2011, p. 160). Calvin led reform in Geneva, Switzerland and Rienow (2013) explains that this expositor of Scripture boldly called the Church back to a biblical view of family and the need for the gospel advancement to begin with the jurisdiction of the home (p. 198). Just as the patriarch Abraham was considered by Calvin to be “a good householder” due to the faithful instruction of his children in the worship of Yahweh, Genevan fathers could also be reckoned as such in their generation (Gen 18:19) (Calvin as cited in Stinson, 2011, p. 118). It is also notable that Ulrich Zwingli, leader of the Reformation in Zurich, held a similar perspective as Calvin on the role of parents in the spiritual formation of their children (Stinson, 2011, p. 118). Others like John Knox in Scotland exhorted parents to conduct regular times of family worship in the home which included such spiritual disciplines as Scripture reading, encouragement, and prayer (Rienow, 2013, p. 199).
The complimentary relationship of family and church was also affirmed as members of the larger faith community bore a responsibility of partnership to come alongside and equip parents in the instruction of children through what Calvin described as “a received public custom and practice, to question children in the churches” regarding their understanding of the Christian religion (Calvin as cited in Stinson, 2011, p. 119). In similar fashion, the family ministry model of the English Reformers did not exclude the prospect of age-organized classes for the discipleship of children as the 1549 Book of Common Prayer required pastors to meet with children to provide instruction and by 1552 this practice had become a weekly responsibility (Anthony, 2011, p. 160).
Post tenebrae…lux! This Latin phrase meaning “after darkness…light” is inscribed on a famous memorial in Geneva, Switzerland commemorating the historic impact of the magisterial reformers. The Reformation reclaimed family ministry from the clutches of darkness as C. Jeffrey Robinson, Sr. notes Luther, a family man himself, as affirming that the initial staging ground for the advance of the light of the gospel is the home which operates like an earthly kingdom as parents have a sworn duty before God in this holy vocation and divine calling (Luther as cited in Stinson, 2011, pp. 116-117). The Christian family was once again unleashed for advancing the gospel to the ends of the earth for the glory of God alone (Rienow, 2013, p. 198).
To be continued…Soli Deo Gloria!
References
Anthony, M. & Anthony, M., eds. (2011) A theology for family ministries. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic.
Pollard, J. & Brown, S., eds. (2014) A theology of the family: five centuries of biblical wisdom
for family life. Wake Forest, NC: The National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.
Rienow, R. (2013) Limited church: unlimited kingdom – uniting church and family in the great
commission. Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications.
Stinson, R. & Jones, T. P., eds. (2016) Trained in the fear of God: family ministry in theological,
historical, and practical perspective. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.
