Four Approaches to Discipleship
Family-Equipping Model
The model that I believe would be the more effective approach to family ministry and
discipleship would be the “Family-Equipping Model.”1 Often a child’s hero is his or her parents
and more than likely the first of an adolescents influence comes from the home in which he or
she grows up in. Dr. Burrell quotes 3 John 1:4 in his media publication, expressing the joy that
comes from knowing that a child walks in the truth; not only his children, but, the spiritual
children as well.2 Nonetheless, just as Dr. Burrell mentioned in the lecture that as parents we
have a responsibility to be the spiritual leaders in the home (Burrel, Dan. 2013). Yet, says Jones
in his publication in our classroom text that Church leaders design every ministry to support the
place of parents as essential in their children’s lives at each degree of Church ministry.3 The
family equipping model provides the most important aspect of family discipleship in my opinion
because the church structures the parents with discipleship and allows the parents along with the
congregation knowingly to help co-champion the church’s ministry and the parent’s discipleship
accountability.
The Educational-Programmatic Ministry Model is a “silos” but seldom touches one
another and the Family-Based Model ministries it takes the right direction in its phases, by
purposefully drawing generation together and inspiring the parents to take a more vigorous role
1 Jones, Timothy. P, Stinson, Randy, Renfro, Paul, Shields, Brandon, and Strother, Jay.
Perspectives on Family Ministry: Three Views. B&H Publishing Group, 2009.
2 Burrell, Dan. “Why Family Discipleship is Important.” Lecture, from Liberty University,
Lynchburg, VA, 2013.
3 Jones, Stinson, Renfro, Shields, Strother, pg. 42. 2009.
in the lives of the children. However, it has little consistent and lacks intergenerational
interaction, focusing on more of the expediency on the family’s schedules and needs, more so
than spiritual development of the coming generations. The Family-Based Ministry Model
moves in the right direction by purposefully drawing generation and together Family-Equipping
Ministry Model
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