Frequently Asked Questions
What does "family-integrated" mean?
It means we keep families together and do
not separate by age for various programs like Sunday
school or Children's Church. We believe the best
youth leaders are mom and dad. If we do youth
events, it is under the watchful care of the
parents. We carry out evangelism by personally
inviting people into our homes. We rarely have
meetings and other events that take people out of
the home. If there is an event, we keep it
family-oriented. We seek to find ways of carrying
out the ministry of Jesus Christ while keeping
families together.
The
National Conference of Family-Integrated Churches,
and
Uniting
Church and Home have influenced the
concept of family integrated churches.
Why do you have a household emphasis?
We believe the model used by most churches is not
Scriptural. The Church is referred to as the
"household of faith" in Galatians 6:10. What else is
the Church of Jesus Christ than a "household" of
"households"? Obviously, the primary institution of
the Church and the State is the Family. (Genesis
1:28) A church is only as healthy as the households
who attend. Sadly, most churches are aiding the
destruction of the family in America by dividing
them through programs. We believe an ounce of
prevention (keeping and encouraging strong Christian
families) is worth a pound of cure (dividing and
then trying to repair disintegrated families,
divorced couples, and rebellious children).
How many households attend?
Right now we have approximately 5 households
attending. A household is not necessarily a couple
with children. We
welcome single-parent
households, singles, and senior citizens as part of
our fellowship.
What is your worship service like?
We meet in a nice Fire Hall, in New Hartford,
Connecticut. There are lots of wonderful children
who listen and participate.
Our elders lead the
worship service. We sing Biblically sound
traditional hymns and Psalms. As a Biblical church
we are working towards making our worship in line
with the Reformed faith. We believe
every
church has some form of liturgy. The question is,
"Is the order of worship Biblical?" We believe ours
is. Every service we praise God through song, we
confess our sins, we read and proclaim the Word of
God, and we celebrate Holy Communion.
You can see a copy and commentary on our Order of
Worship
here.
Do you have a youth program?
We sure do! We have one of the greatest youth
programs you can find anywhere! Our youth leaders
are tried and true. They love the children in the
youth group like they were their own children. In
fact, they are their own children. We believe
parents are the best youth leaders that God has
ordained. We do cooperative family events so our
youth can interact and fellowship under the watchful
care of those who truly love them.
What is your Sunday School like?
Because we believe it is the
parent’s duty before God to teach their children, we
don't put an emphasis upon Sunday School. Our pastor
periodically hase special classes for the entire
family to deepen people's understanding of the
Bible. We don't age-segregate children into
"classes". We keep families together. We
also
equip the parents,
particularly the fathers, to carry out God's command
to "teach your children". (Ephesians 6:4).
Why do you encourage people have family worship
during the week?
Home worship is one of the main pillars of our
church.
Our elders try to
encourage and equip the heads of the household to
carry out their God-given calling as "priest" in
their own home. If there is a single mother or a
father who is irresponsible, we encourage the mother
to do this.
Christians throughout the ages have had home
worship. It is not until relatively recently when
Christians stopped worshipping the Lord in their own
homes during the week. We see the result in the
typical Christian home. Most Christian youth are
just as directionless and humanistic as their
non-believing counterparts. If worship is not
happening in our homes, it's not happening. We try
to challenge and equip fathers to take
responsibility and authority in leading their
household in family worship.
Why should I come to your church?
You should only come to this church if you believe
the Lord is calling you to do so. If your current
church is not a Biblical church or doing what the
Lord has called His Church do to, you have every
right to find godly fellowship in Christ. The
Reformers said there are 3 marks of a Biblical
Church:
-
The preaching of sound doctrine based upon the
Bible.
-
The proper administration of the sacraments in
Baptism and Communion.
-
Proper church discipline.
