 | Pastor Bill Emmerling, Jr. is the lead pastor at Grace Place Pittsburg, meeting at the Homer Cole Community Center in Pittsburg. Ordained at Grace Place of Lamar, MO, Bill has a heart to see Godly men together lead their families for the glory of Jesus the Messiah. He has been married to the bride of his youth, Sharri, for 22 years and has two daughters and a son. Bill has earned a B.S. in Physics, a secondary teaching certification and studied Theology/Philosophy at Lincoln Christian Seminary. He may be reached at pittsburg@grace-place.org or by phone at 620-670-4510 |
Religion
2012-11-07 11:32:03
What is a
Q- I see in your advertisement that you are a ‘Family Integrated Church.’ What exactly does that mean?
A- In short, a ‘family-integrated church’ is one who worships, learns and serves together as a family. This is really an old concept. However, segregation by age is a relatively new concept introduced by the modern education system. In Deuteronomy 6:7, God gives instruction to teach your children throughout the day, with the expectation that parents and children are together. Further, nowhere in scripture are there examples given of children being separated from parents. While we don’t consider family segregation a salvation issue, we believe that God’s best occurs in relationship together. God designed the family, it was His idea.
There are many benefits of ‘family-integration.’ First and foremost, instead of being pulled in separate directions, the family shares in the experience. Children see their parents worshiping. Families share in the experience of serving together as they visit the sick or those less fortunate.
Parents know what their children are being taught, as they were present when it was done. Further, parents can reinforce the message throughout the week, or more importantly, the church reinforces what Dad is teaching at home.
When we hold Sunday school, we sit as families, encouraging fathers to lead, and allow new fathers the opportunity to learn from other fathers around them how to lead and teach their family.
Is this a legalistic matter? No. There are times when it is necessary to separate to discuss business or relational issues. However, segregation is not the rule, but rather the exception to how we relate to one another and our God. After all, we are part of His family, ‘the household of faith’ (Ephesians 2:19; Galatians 6:10; 1 Timothy 3:15).
