Spiritual Disciplines for Families
How do we encourage parents/families to learn and practice spiritual disciplines? This is a questions I’ve heard lots over the years.
So we put the question out to the community and your feedback did not disapoint. Here is a round up of resources all about family faith formation.
Have one to add? Let us know in the comments ⬇️
The Ancient Practices Series
There a whole bunch of books connected with this - the one I'm thinking of to get started might be Brian McLaren's Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices.
Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices Shines a practical light on the spiritual disciplines that have been in use since the time of Abraham.
In a sense, every day of our lives is labor. It is questionable if you can ever be exactly the same person waking up on two consecutive days. How are spiritual sojourners to cope with the constant change? Many are beginning to explore the ancient Christian spiritual practices that have been in use for centuries, everything from fixed-hour prayer to fasting to sincere observance of the Sabbath. What is causing this hunger for deeper spirituality?
Brian McLaren guides us on this quest for an explanation of these spiritual practices, many of which go all the way back to Abraham and the establishment of Israel. In the midst of contemporary Christianity, we discover the beauty of these ancient disciplines and the transformation through Christ that each can provide.
Why have certain spiritual disciplines been in use for centuries and why is it important?
It is questionable if one can ever be exactly the same person waking up on two consecutive days. How are spiritual sojourners to cope with the constant change? Many are beginning to explore the ancient Christian spiritual practices, such as fixed-hour prayer, fasting and sincere observance of the Sabbath. What is causing this hunger for deeper spirituality?
Brian McLaren guides us on this quest for an explanation of these spiritual practices, many of which go all the way back to Abraham and the establishment of Israel. In the midst of contemporary Christianity, we discover the beauty of these disciplines and the transformation through Christ that each can provide.
Get the book here
God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God
By Ken Shigematsu, author and senior pastor at Tenth
Learn how to live with the peace and presence of God in the midst of our hectic, busy lives.
Spiritual formation is more than just solitude and contemplative reflections. Spiritual formation happens in the everyday, in each and every moment of life. For those caught up in the busyness of work, family, and church, it often feels like time with God is just another thing on a crowded to-do list.
Ken Shigematsu—award-winning author and pastor—will teach you simple rhythms to help you slow down and experience God in every part of your life. Through personal experiences, stories, and poetic and practical meditations, Ken shares spiritual practices that will help you learn how to have a richer, deeper connection with God, no matter your life situation or vocation.
In God in My Everything, discover how to create and practice a life-giving, sustainable rhythm in the midst of your demanding life. As you learn how to savor the presence of Jesus, you’ll find yourself more relaxed, more thankful, and more conscious of the Savior’s presence and provision than ever before.
Get the book here
The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices by Casper Ter Kuile.
Casper ter Kuile, a Harvard Divinity School fellow and cohost of the popular Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast, explores how we can nourish our souls by transforming common, everyday practices—yoga, reading, walking the dog—into sacred rituals that can heal our crisis of social isolation and struggle to find purpose—a message we need more than ever for our spiritual and emotional well-being in the age of COVID-19.
“After half a decade of research and hundreds of conversations with people around the country, I am convinced we are in the midst of a paradigm shift. That what used to hold us in community no longer works, and that the spiritual offerings of yesteryear no longer help us thrive.”–Casper ter Kuile
What do Soul Cycle, gratitude journals, and tech breaks have in common? For ter Kuile they offer rituals that create the foundation for our modern spiritual lives.
We are in crisis today. Our modern technological society has left too many of us—no matter our ages—feeling isolated and bereft of purpose. Previous frameworks for building community and finding meaning no longer support us. Yet ter Kuile reveals a hopeful new message: we might not be religious, but that doesn’t mean we are any less spiritual.
Instead, we are in the midst of a paradigm shift in which we seek belonging and meaning in secular practices. Today, we find connection in:
CrossFit and SoulCycle, which offer a sense of belonging rooted in accountability and support much like church groups
Harry Potter and other beloved books that offer universal lessons
Gratitude journals, which have replaced traditional prayer
Tech breaks, which provide mindful moments of calm
In The Power of Ritual, ter Kuile invites us to deepen these ordinary practices as intentional rituals that nurture connection and wellbeing. With wisdom and endearing wit, ter Kuile’s call for ritual is ultimately a call to heal our loss of connection to ourselves, to others, and to our spiritual identities.
The Power of Ritual reminds us that what we already do every day matters—and has the potential to become a powerful experience of reflection, sanctuary, and meaning.
Get the book here
Venite: A Book of Daily Prayer by Robert Benson.
This is a resource that I've used for daily prayer as an individual and with groups.
The Latin word "venite" is an invitation given to pray the prayers of Christ. It is an invitation to pray the ancient prayer, until life becomes a prayer without ceasing.
Best-selling author Robert Benson brings together deep-rooted and traditional prayer practices of the Church in a volume for laypeople who want to practice daily prayer throughout the year in their own solitude. Venite offers a means of framing one’s day in the rhythm of the ancient daily prayers of the Church, and allows for participation in those rhythms by beginning the day with prayer to sanctify it; by ending the day’s work with psalms, prayers, and thanksgiving; and by committing oneself to the darkness and silence of the night with confession, forgiveness, and confidence.
Like The Book of Common Prayer, Venite is a daily book of connecting to God for people of all Christian faiths. Crossing denominational lines in spirit and in practice, it is divided into seven parts: Office, Seasons, Days of Remembrance, Canticles, Psalter, Lectio, and Prayers.
Easy-to-use and follow, Venite is an uplifting and enlightening book for all experienced in or new to sacred daily prayer.
Get the book here
Celebration of Discipline, Special Anniversary Edition: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster
A newly repackaged and updated 40th anniversary edition of the timeless guide that has helped numerous seekers discover a richer spiritual life infused with joy, peace, and a deeper understanding of God, updated with a new introduction by the author and a new section: "Entering the Great Conversation about the Growth of the Soul."
Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores the "classic Disciplines," or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found.
Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration bring us nearer to one another and to God.
Foster provides a wealth of examples demonstrating how these Disciplines can become part of our daily activities—and how they can help us shed our superficial habits and "bring the abundance of God into our lives." He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can be shared with others." The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the Disciplines, shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Celebration of Discipline will help Christians everywhere to embark on a journey of prayer and spiritual growth
Get the Book Here
Grounded: Finding God in the World-A Spiritual Revolution by Diana Butler Bass
The headlines are clear: religion is on the decline in America as many people leave behind traditional religious practices. Diana Butler Bass, leading commentator on religion, politics, and culture, follows up her acclaimed book Christianity After Religion by arguing that what appears to be a decline actually signals a major transformation in how people understand and experience God. The distant God of conventional religion has given way to a more intimate sense of the sacred that is with us in the world. This shift, from a vertical understanding of God to a God found on the horizons of nature and human community, is at the heart of a spiritual revolution that surrounds us — and that is challenging not only religious institutions but political and social ones as well.
Grounded explores this cultural turn as Bass unpacks how people are finding new spiritual ground by discovering and embracing God everywhere in the world around us—in the soil, the water, the sky, in our homes and neighborhoods, and in the global commons. Faith is no longer a matter of mountaintop experience or institutional practice; instead, people are connecting with God through the environment in which we live. Grounded guides readers through our contemporary spiritual habitat as it points out and pays attention to the ways in which people experience a God who animates creation and community.
Bass brings her understanding of the latest research and studies and her deep knowledge of history and theology to Grounded. She cites news, trends, data, and pop culture, weaves in spiritual texts and ancient traditions, and pulls it all together through stories of her own and others' spiritual journeys. Grounded observes and reports a radical change in the way many people understand God and how they practice faith. In doing so, Bass invites readers to join this emerging spiritual revolution, find a revitalized expression of faith, and change the world.
Get the Book Here
Adult Discipleship Resources
Types of Resources - Some of the resources suggested in this document are traditional: Bible studies, curriculum and book studies. Others reflect current trends in faith formation: intergenerational resources, spiritual practice ideas and online course offerings.
Bible Studies
Lectionary-Based Curriculum
Books
Videos
Online Courses
Other Models of Adult Formation