We know that parenting is a uniquely challenging job these days. And past support systems have fragmented or disappeared. The church community, which once served as a relational hub for young families, has been usurped by a myriad of conflicting options. The church knows the crucial role parents play in nurturing a lifelong faith in their kids, but has sometimes struggled to offer the kind of help parents really need. Parents’ needs and longings have shifted, and the church has been struggling to understand those shifts and respond. Meanwhile, the steep declines in church membership and attendance are ultimately driven by parents of school-age children. The parents involved in the 20 churches that are part of Vibrant Faith’s 4th-Soil Parenting project, a partnership with the Lilly Endowment, are using innovative tools and strategies to explore their own spiritual lives, then learn to better influence their kids toward spiritual growth. I’ll pull back the curtain on what’s working in this project, and what we’re learning about the church’s role in supporting home-centered faith formation.
Dr. Nancy Going
Nancy is Vibrant Faith’s Director of Research and Resource Development—she was the organization’s Executive Director for six years. She’s one of the directors of Vibrant Faith’s Thriving Congregations Initiative and Fourth-Soil Parenting Project, both funded and guided by the Lilly Foundation. She has spent her career in ministry leadership with youth, and she still loves working with kids as a volunteer any chance she gets. Nancy came on board the Vibrant Faith team in 2014 after teaching and providing leadership at Luther Seminary in the Children Youth and Family Ministry Masters Degree Distributed Learning Program. She has authored articles, curriculum, and contributed to books. Nancy lives in Nashville with her husband Art, an Anglican priest. They have launched two new families from their children. You can connect with Nancy at ngoing@vibrantfaith.org
