Five Strategies to Cultivate a Culture of Church-Parent Partnership
Rev Cam Harte is the Children’s Ministry & Primary SRE Advisor for the South Sydney region.
There are few responsibilities that carry the weight and significance of raising children to know and love Jesus. The stakes are high, and both families and churches recognise this. Research and experience confirm that the childhood years are foundational for a young person’s spiritual development. Yet, despite good intentions, children’s ministry is too often carried out in isolation from the families to whom these children belong.
When the church and home are aligned in purpose, vision, and strategy—each embracing their God-given roles—the discipleship and spiritual formation of children flourish. So, what does meaningful partnership between the church and the home look like—both theologically and practically?
Theological Foundations for Partnership
At the heart of true partnership is a shared theological vision for the spiritual formation of children. Scripture affirms the central role of the home in this process (Deut. 6:4–9; Eph. 6:1–4). God's design is for faith formation to begin at home—not as a task to be checked off, but as a way of life woven through everyday moments. “Parents are the primary teachers in their children’s lives, even if they don’t know it.”[1] God’s good design for the raising of children is that parents have the primary role in the discipleship and teaching of their children.
While parents are called to disciple their children, they are not meant to do it alone. The church—the gathered people of God—is called to walk alongside families in this sacred work. The church plays a vital role in equipping parents and discipling children within the broader intergenerational community of faith. As Paul writes, leaders are given “to equip the saints for the work of ministry”—and that includes equipping parents to lead their children in faith. As Tim Beilharz identifies, “We do not want the parents of these children [those in our ministry] to be strangers to us and our ministry but invested partners.”[2]
God’s design for the discipleship of young people is two-fold:
The home is the primary environment for faith formation.
The church partners with the family—equipping, supporting, and walking with them in this calling.
When parents embrace their role and are supported by a church deeply invested in both their parenting and their children, young lives thrive. Together, the church and home can disciple and teach young people far more effectively than either can alone.
What Partnership Looks Like in Practice
When we think about partnership, we often jump straight to programs, flyers, or events. While those are helpful, true partnership is more than a program—it starts with a posture. It’s a shared commitment to the spiritual flourishing of children in the church community.
This partnership is marked by three key characteristics:
Trust – Parents trust that the church has their child’s spiritual growth at heart. The church trusts that parents are seeking to raise their children to know, love, and follow King Jesus.
Communication – There are open lines of dialogue in both directions. It’s not just the church informing parents; it’s also listening and learning from them. It’s a mutually beneficial and ongoing conversation between adults who care about the discipleship of these children.
Alignment – Everyone knows where they are headed—and it’s the same direction.
Without all three, the partnership falters. Here are five practical strategies to help you cultivate this partnership:
1. Shared Vision and Language
Church leaders and families can develop a shared language around discipleship. This won’t look the same in every context, but everyone should be able to articulate:
What does it mean for a child to follow Jesus?
What habits and practices help a child grow in faith?
How do we talk about spiritual formation in our church?
What are our hopes and goals for the children in our care?
When the church casts a theologically grounded vision and invites families into that vision, alignment and shared ownership begin to grow.
Practical Tip: Use consistent language and themes across your children’s ministry and family resources. Help families understand what children are learning and give them tools to talk about it at home—especially around core concepts like faith, grace and forgiveness.
2. Ongoing Communication and Resourcing
Many parents are left guessing what their children are learning at church. Meaningful, regular communication bridges that gap. This goes beyond newsletters—it’s about connection: conversations after the service, a phone call to check in, or invitations for feedback.
Families aren’t often looking for more tasks to do. Instead, guide them in integrating faith into existing routines. Help them build spiritual habits into everyday moments.
Practical Tip: Provide a weekly family discipleship guide with conversation starters, memory verses, and simple practices that connect to the children’s ministry program.
3. Mutual Encouragement and Listening
True partnership is mutual. Children’s ministry leaders must listen to the realities families face—limited time, spiritual insecurity, and fatigue. Likewise, families should affirm the time, creativity, and prayer poured into their children’s faith by ministry leaders.
This is a shared journey. We are on the same team.
Practical Tip: Host regular parent roundtables or listening sessions. Use these to ask what’s working, hear where families need support, and build stronger relational ties. Consider informal gatherings like breakfasts or lunches to nurture these connections.
4. Equipping Events and Parent Training
Most parents want to disciple their children—they just don’t always know how. The church can offer training and encouragement to help them embrace their role with confidence and joy.
Don’t limit this to events. Embed equipping into the life of the church through sermons, small groups, and casual conversations.
Practical Tips: Produce or provide easy-to-use resources to guide discussions in the home. Create space and time for parents to share with one another, and with the wider church, about what they are doing to disciple their children, whether this is during church services or over a coffee after church. Resource and train small group leaders to guide discussions about parenting and enable group members to share ideas with one another.
5. Celebrating Milestones Together
Milestones like baptism, confirmations, or transitions to youth ministry are key opportunities to reinforce the church-home partnership. These moments remind families they are not alone and mark God’s ongoing work in a child’s life. As Chandler and Griffin write,
“What all family discipleship milestones have in common is that they are all experiences to bear witness to God’s faithfulness.”[3]
When the family and the church celebrate milestones in the lives of young people together, they strengthen and reinforce the partnership that they share.
Practical Tip: Hold milestone events that involve both children and parents. For example, a “Graduation Sunday” where families are prayed for as their children transition to a new stage of ministry.
More than any single initiative, partnership requires cultivating a culture of collaboration, grace, and shared responsibility. Churches must resist the urge to take over discipleship; parents must resist the temptation to outsource it. We need one another.
When children see their church and home united—in both word and practice—they are given a powerful, consistent vision of what it means to follow Jesus.
Further Reading
Books
The Child in God’s Church by Tim Beilharz
Family Ministry Field Guide by Timothy Paul Jones
Family Discipleship by Matt Chandler & Adam Griffin
Parenting Beyond Your Capacity by Reggie Joiner & Carey Nieuwhof
Articles
Four Ways Churches can Better Equip Parents
Encouraging Parents to Establish Gospel-Centred Homes
Helping Your Church Unlock Discipleship at Home
[1] Jones, T.P. (2011) Family Ministry Field Guide. Wesleyan Publishing House, Indiana, p. 154.
[2] Beilharz, T. (2025) The Child in God’s Church. Youthworks Media, Sydney, p. 80.
[3] Chandler, M. & Griffin, A. (2020) Family Discipleship. Crossway, Illinois, p. 136.
