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| Pillars of Family Ministry |
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One of the most common questions about family ministry is: what is family ministry? Family ministry is a relatively new term reflecting the ongoing development of the understanding of ministry that emerges from the Second Vatican Council. While the term is new, it could rightly be said that family ministry among Christians has been going on from the beginning of Christianity. From a Christian perspective ministry is a service rendered to others in Christ and because of Christ. The vocation to minister is rooted in baptism and confirmation. Thus, all Christian are called to minister and have a responsibility to minister. This broad understanding of ministry has opened up the possibility of recognising that much of what happens within family life is ministry. Thus, when we speak of family ministry we begin firstly with the ministry that family members carry out within their own family and secondly the ministry that families carry out within their church, community, society and world. Family ministry is what families do as baptised and confirmed members of the Christian community and disciples of Christ. Family ministry also refers to what the church community does with and for families. Any activity carried out by a church community, that directly or indirectly deepens faith, hope and love in families, nurtures families in living the life of discipleship of Jesus, and supports families in their ministering to others falls within the broad area of family ministry. Based on the ministerial activities described in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and the ways in which these have been developed by modern theological writers, the OPRFM believes that all ministry is founded on the six pillars of: 1) leadership 2) liturgy and prayer 3) community building 4) formation and proclamation 5) service and outreach and 6) administration. These six pillars, or foundations, form the basis for developing ministry whether it be in the context of diocese, parish or family. In the context of family ministry, these pillars describe the elements of ministry carried out by the family within the family and beyond the family. They also outlines the elements of ministry carried out by the church community with and for families. Thus, a focus on leadership will, for example, lead to questions about styles of parenting and the kind of vision that is appropriate at the beginning of the present millennium. Liturgy and prayer is something that is practiced at home by families. At the same time church communities need to consider how they pray for families and how they create family orientated liturgies. The family is an intimate communion of persons that engages its members in building up the family. Church communities also have a responsibility to strengthen families and integrate them into the wider community. Parents are the primary educators of children. This includes nurturing faith, hope and love within the family. It is in the home that the Gospel is first proclaimed. The parish community is also deeply involved in evangelizing and catechising the families in the community. Service and outreach is an ongoing ministry within families, while at the same time families can carry out a ministry of outreach within the parish community. Supporting families and reaching out to families, particularly when they are vulnerable, is a key ministry within the church community. Managing family life entails ensuring that things are as they should be within the context of a family's self-understanding. It is informed by and informs the other pillars. Church administration that is committed to family ministry will ensure that the parish or church community looks at its own functioning from the perspective of its families. The OPRFM has proposed in its vision that the primary vocation of all Christians and thus parish communities and families is to know and embody in today's world the Christ revealed in the Gospels. How family ministry, as a focused intentional ministry performed by families and parishes in Christ and because of Christ within the Archdiocese of Armagh, will take shape in the years to come can be explored by adopting the perspective of the six pillars of ministry. |
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