Family Ministries
This report presents an overview of the British Union Conference Family Ministries Department’s work, priorities and outcomes during the 2021-2025 quinquennium. It documents the department’s strategic focus on resourcing and equipping Conference, Mission and local church leadership; promoting family spirituality; delivering family life education and leadership training; and providing support in marriage, parenting, emotional wellbeing and relational health. The report also reflects an intentional movement away from an exclusively event-centred model towards a more structured, pathway-based approach to ministry, and outlines key learning points and future directions aimed at fostering sustainable spiritual and relational growth across the Union.
Family Spirituality
In response to the declining number of families engaging in regular family worship, in line with the GC’s ‘Back to the Altar’ initiative, the BUC Family Ministries Department has created a resource to help families experience consistent, biblically based, creative, relevant and age-appropriate family worship.
Throughout the term, seminars have been held across the Union, providing a rationale for family worship based on the Bible and Ellen White’s counsel.
Family Ministries Leadership Training
One of the primary reasons for Family Ministries’ existence is family life education. Throughout the quinquennium, this department has supported Family Ministry leaders by delivering training in the foundational areas of family life. In addition to the live training, recordings of the training modules have been made available to Family Ministries leaders. We have also provided funding to support local leaders through the Trans-European Division’s Family Ministries leadership training.
To increase access to training, the department has invested in developing online, self-directed training modules.
Training for ministers has been provided through cooperation with the Ministerial Association’s BUTREC training and ministerial induction programmes. Topics covered included safeguarding, ministers and their families, domestic abuse, combating burnout, trauma-informed ministry and emotionally intelligent leadership.
Research
Extensive research has been conducted to trace historical, societal, theological and ideological trends that have reshaped family values away from biblical ideals. This will help to sharpen family ministry strategy and resource creation.
Promoting and resourcing Family Ministries
The annual Christian Home and Marriage Week, along with the Family Togetherness Week, provided opportunities to collaborate with Family Ministries counterparts to work with local churches. These series of meetings have been designed to be accessible both to Christians and those with no faith experience, providing an ‘entering wedge’ for the Gospel.
The BUC Family Ministries webpage contains a wealth of downloadable resources and has been updated to keep our membership informed, equipped and supported. We have collaborated with our counterparts in the conferences to produce a series of leaflets that use neutral language for use not only at our in-house events, but also for outreach.
Our monthly newsletter, BUC Family, has proved to be a popular resource, addressing topical issues and promoting Conference and Mission events, local church events and various resources. It is distributed through Conference and Mission leaders and is available on the BUC website. The Messenger has also been used to publish articles highlighting Family Ministries themes.
The popularity of social media has been utilised to share brief reflections under the theme ‘Just a Thought’. The posts share healthy relational principles, primarily in the areas of communication, conflict resolution and emotional wellbeing, from a biblical perspective.
A devotional resource, Moments with God for Parents, has been produced. Although the goal of creating a distinctly Adventist-accredited parenting course has not been realised during this session, it remains a long-term project for the Family Ministries Department.
Marriage Preparation, Enrichment and Support
As an authorised trainer for Prepare Enrich, the world-leading organisation for premarital preparation and marital support, the Director provided annual training for ministers, counsellors and church leaders on supporting couples.
My wife Irma and I have had the privilege to facilitate locally organised marriage retreats under the themes ‘Intimate Allies’ and ‘Woven in Love’. The retreats explored the fundamental biblical principles that underpin spiritual, emotional and physical intimacy.
Emotional Wellbeing
The Family Ministries Department has long recognised that the health of families is dependent on the emotional wellbeing of their members. To this end, programming for local churches has emphasised the importance of emotionally intelligent relationships. While counselling is not an official function in the BUC, the Family Ministries Department has provided regular support to the Cornerstone Counselling Service (CCS), presenting annual training seminars at CCS weekend retreats.
Men’s, Women’s and Singles’ Ministries
Natural overlaps between Men’s, Women’s, Singles’ and Family Ministries provided opportunities to present workshops at Conference retreats and local church events. A common theme for both men’s and women’s programming has been domestic abuse. It included raising awareness, practical steps to address domestic abuse, and the need to take responsibility to change the culture in which abuse thrives.
Supporting Local Congregations
It has been a great privilege to minister in our local churches across the Union. Through sermons, seminars, workshops and weekend retreats, we have communicated the Family Ministries Department’s goals and provided information to support the development of healthy relationships. Where programming requests did not require specific family dynamics such as marriage, parenting and so on to be addressed, the Director has been intentional about addressing healthy relational principles that are applicable across all relationships, ensuring that presentations are inclusive and accessible. Because relational challenges are common to both Christians and those who have no faith commitment, programming has not only had a ‘soft’ evangelistic appeal, but also opened up opportunities to minister to non-Adventist Christians and facilitated invitations to speak to their churches.
Looking Forwards
The past quinquennium has demonstrated the value of well-planned events such as weeks of emphasis, seminars and retreats. At the same time, it has highlighted the need to move beyond a programme-centred approach towards a more intentional, pathway-based model of ministry. Looking ahead, Family Ministries envisions providing resources to guide families through clearly defined, longer-term journeys that support sustained spiritual and relational growth.
While activity has been extensive, future emphasis will be placed on measuring impact through simple evaluation tools, tracking outcomes, and sharing annual summaries, strengthening accountability, demonstrating value, and supporting informed investment and sustainable growth.
Recognising diverse family realities, the Family Ministries Department will broaden its approach to family spirituality, supporting everyday faith practices, inclusive resources and compassionate leadership that encourages achievable next steps in spiritual growth.
Building on existing strengths, Family Ministries will deepen trauma-informed and emotionally intelligent practice, embedding it across training, developing relational literacy resources, and clarifying boundaries to foster safer churches, healthier leaders and more compassionate support for families.
Building on effective digital communication, Family Ministries will move towards intentional digital discipleship through targeted platforms, interactive content and pathway-aligned planning, enabling deeper engagement, clearer focus and more formative impact beyond passive consumption. The department’s social media engagement will be increased.
Appreciation
I am grateful to all my colleagues in the conferences and missions for the support we have given each other. I also pay tribute to all the local volunteer leaders who have given their time and energy to support the Union’s families.
The department has benefited from the professionalism, expertise and commitment of our administrative assistants, Abigail Wright-Stephenson and Kathleen Hanson.
Thanks be to God for the opportunity to be a co-worker with Him in the work of supporting families.