Book Review: Households of Faith

Over the past decade working in children and family ministries, one of the frequent questions I’ve fielded is, “Who is in charge of discipleship: the church or the home?” Or sometimes, it’s posed as, “What resources is this church offering for us to disciple our children?”

What families are often looking for is a set of books or a tool kit of sorts, perhaps with a book on discipleship, some suggestions for rites of passage, a list of Bible verses to memorize. All of this can be wonderful! In my role as catechist at All Saints Dallas, providing these types of family resources is a fun and fruitful part of my job. But so much of catechesis in our Anglican tradition happens through liturgy and community, and I heartily recommend Dr. Emily Hunter McGowin’s new book, Households of Faith: Practicing Family in the Kingdom of God, as an excellent primer on biblical foundations for nuclear and church families.

Dr. McGowin is a biblical theologian at Wheaton College as well as an ordained clergy member (ACNA), clergy spouse and mother of two. In Part 1 of Households of Faith, McGowin examines the biblical foundations of family by looking at encouragements and admonitions throughout Scripture, as well as examining the cultural contexts throughout both the Old and New Testaments. She broadens the understanding of family to include those who are bound together in Christ and called to live in mutual support and encouragement and joy with one another. In Part 2, McGowin turns to look at modern experiences of family—marriage, singleness, child-rearing—and calls readers to the task of becoming “apprentices to love” alongside each other. In Part 3, McGowin invites Christians to practice being part of the household of God through three practices familiar to us in the Anglican tradition: Eucharist, baptism and Sabbath.

As a parent, McGowin’s summation of parenting as guiding my children to be apprentices to God’s love is both clarifying and convicting. The end goal of my parenting can’t be raising responsible or curious or healthy or friendly children: The end goal is that they know God’s love and seek to demonstrate that same love each day in whatever context God prepares for them. We seek to guide our children into being responsible and kind because these are practical ways we show love to our community. Wherever the Lord leads and guides them in their future vocational calls—marriage, parenting, singleness—this apprenticeship to God’s love will continue to bear fruit.

Similarly, the three practices for the household of God are equally accessible to all members of God’s household regardless of age or family context. The practices of receiving baptism, the Eucharist and a Sabbath rest are practices I can invite my children into and ways their hearts and minds will be catechized by the rhythm and liturgies of our church life.

As an Anglican with a 10-plus-year career in Anglican family ministries, I found Households of Faith insightful, convicting and healing. It articulates a clear and insightful biblical foundation for so many of our Christian practices and also calls us to a richer and more intentional life in community for people of all ages and family statuses who call themselves children of God.