Parents Share about Faith Formation

Across the Christian Reformed Church in North America, parents and caregivers have been gathering to have conversations about what it means to nurture faith in their homes. These listening sessions are a part of Thrive’s work to equip parents, caregivers, and children’s ministry leaders with tools that can help them invest in children’s faith formation. While these are primarily research events, the gatherings have also offered space for caregivers to pause, share honestly, and be reminded that they are not alone in the joys and challenges of raising and discipling children.

At the end of November, Thrive will have hosted 21 listening sessions in local congregations across the United States and Canada. Each event invites a small group of parents and caregivers to sit together and reflect on what faith formation looks like in their daily lives, with the opportunity to reflect on what is life-giving, what is difficult, and what kind of support they hope to find in their church and denominational communities. 

Facilitators are there to guide the group through thoughtful questions but do not come with a presentation to share. Instead, they listen and observe as participants share stories, nod in agreement with one another, laugh together at shared experiences, or grow quiet in moments of empathy. 

Rick Zomer, faith formation consultant with Thrive, reflected on how those moments help to make the sessions meaningful. “Hearing directly from CRC parents and caregivers about their joys, hopes, fears, support needs, and desired resources for faith formation is our most valuable tool,” Zomer said. “It’s a privilege to listen to the hearts of those entrusted with raising children and to understand how Thrive can best journey alongside them.” 

The hosting congregations note that the listening sessions have often sparked new conversations among ministry leaders and volunteers. At Water Street Church in Guelph, Ont., for example, Pastor Josh Sweetman said the experience gave church members and leaders a fresh opportunity to listen to one another.

“This gave us a chance as a church to hear from parents and caregivers what they are looking for to form the faith of their children,” said Sweetman. “In a way, it served as a mirror for us as leaders to look into our current programming. We could then identify areas that needed work and areas that were working well.”

He added that the event became faith-forming in its own right. “Parents and caregivers were able to discuss their faith openly and honestly and to share the struggles that come with raising kids and teaching them to love and serve God,” he said. “It was a living out of what we read in Psalm 145—one generation commending God’s works to another.”

At Covenant CRC in Winnipeg, Man., Cassandra Visser found that for her as a parent the session offered both reflection and connection. “The listening session presented a unique opportunity to stop and contemplate our children’s faith formation in an intentional format,” she said. “Listening to the responses of other parents helped to instill a sense of community and shared purpose in this journey.”

These listening sessions have opened doors for ongoing dialogue between congregations and the families they serve, creating stronger partnerships rooted in empathy and understanding. While Thrive staff will soon begin analyzing the insights collected through all 21 sessions, themes that have emerged include the following:

• a hope for children to have personal relationships with God and ownership of their faith
• a desire for children to see authentic faith modeled as an ongoing, vulnerable journey
• the challenges of consistency and time, and how perceived failures in those areas cause guilt and defeat
• the challenges of navigating cultural complexity and media with children
• a need for a safe, intergenerational community and mentorship
• a need for curated, practical resources for daily life and addressing hard questions 

Thrive’s faith formation work seeks to strengthen the relationship between Christian Reformed congregations and the parents and caregivers within them. By creating space to listen before offering resources or programs, Thrive hopes to ensure that future tools for family faith formation are shaped by real experiences and genuine needs.

“The listening sessions have been about more than collecting information,” Zomer said. “They’ve been about creating spaces where parents feel heard and valued, and where churches and the denomination can see their vital role in journeying alongside families.”