Lions or Cheetahs? Who is Responsible for Raising Kids in Faith?

Abstract

Scripture encourages parents to pass on faith to children, and a multitude of studies show that the biggest predictor of the faith of kids is the faith of their parents. However, raising kids in faith is more complicated and nuanced than simple “parent to child” religious transmission. In this paper, animal family models are used to explore the relationship between congregations and families. By engaging instructions from scripture, research on changing household structures, and contemporary perspectives on parenting, this paper offers a new way of thinking about religious transmission within intergenerational family relationships and the uniquely central role for congregations.

Keywords:

• Faith formation
• parenting
• Christian education
• marginalization
• children

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Although, it must be noted that some families do “kick out” their children, and when they do there are often theological dimensions to these choices, such as kicking out a kid who identifies as LGBTQIA+, breaking relationships with daughters who are pursuing ordained ministry, or distancing from children who marry people from a different racialized or religious identity. These painful family divisions and their theological dimensions warrant extended attention that I plan to attend to in future research.

2 Thank you to Carolyn Sharp, who suggested I read Alexis Gumbs, who has deepened my thinking about the Orca family structure and the ways this animal community witnesses to our human animal community.

3 This research project can be found at faithformationspu.org.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katherine M. Douglass

Katherine M. Douglass is an Associate Professor of Educational Ministry and Practical Theology at Seattle Pacific University and an ordained teaching elder in the PC(USA). She is the author of Creative in the Image of God: An Aesthetic Practical Theology of Young Adult Faith and Cultivating Teen Faith: Insights from the Confirmation Project. Her research with the Missing Voices Project at Flagler College and the Faith Formation Project at Seattle Pacific University focuses on the ministries of marginalized youth and the faith lives of marginalized families. Email: [email protected]