Dear Friends,

    The traditional family has been thrown to the mat in American culture. Selfish individualism, sexual immorality, easy divorce and anti-child philosophies all currently attack its stability.  Can it survive the assault?  Statistics tell us that more than half of all marriages end in divorce.  And Christians now divorce more frequently than non-Christians. I happen to teach in a public school and the vast majority of my students come from broken homes.  Although I, too, am the product of divorce, I believe that more and more Christian families are turning their hearts to the Lord to seek restoration.  And what the Lord redeems, He uses for the purposes of expanding His kingdom on earth. 

     At one point in my family's life, we placed four of our five children in public schools.  They had been home schooled until my wife Arden’s health deteriorated.  One child was in high school, two were in middle school, one was in elementary school, and one was still at home.  Wanting to be a good dad, I indulged the children in sports, private music lessons, and church youth groups. Since Arden was unable to drive, I handled the taxi responsibilities.  You can imagine what our home life was like trying to keep up with swim team, football, wrestling, soccer, gymnastics, track, piano, violin and trumpet lessons; games, meets, concerts, recitals, parades, parent conferences and school functions—for three different school schedules. 

     Add to this our weekly church experience where each child was encouraged to attend age-segregated youth activities.  Top it all off with invitations to parties and outings with friends and you’ve got a recipe for family frazzle. I felt like I was herding rabbits. We were in a a rat race and the rats were winning.  We were fast becoming relational strangers, sharing the same roof and last name. There was no time for discipleship. And worst of all, I was witnessing the hearts and minds of my children being drawn steadily to their peers and away from the things of God and family.  I realize that my circumstances may be different from yours, but I find that many families similarly feel like they’re on a tread mill with no off switch.

     Arden and I began to examine our schedule and lifestyle carefully to see what could be trimmed.  We cut most of the sports and maintained most of the music.  We prioritized devotional time together over individual time apart.  As I increased my time in daily prayer and Bible study I discovered that God’s plan for multigenerational faith centers around the spiritual leadership of fathers. God’s commendation of father Abraham became a great encouragement to me:  “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just …” (Gen 18:19). 

     We decided to educate our children at home again to maximize our opportunities for discipleship, this time with me, the father bearing full responsibility for its outcome.  We found that we had more time to read the Bible and other great literature together, and to grow closer in conversation. We embraced a new vision of parenting that included preparing our children for marriage.  We therefore became critical of the practice of superficial dating and began to study models of biblical courtship and betrothal. 

     As God blessed us with renewed contentment in our home, we wondered how we might serve as an encouragement to other Christian families and as a witness to the lost. Thus Covered Bridge Family Ministries was created, the bridge representing the father’s protective covering over his household.  In the following pages I’d like to share our vision for strengthening Christian families to span the generations. We believe healthy families are beacons of hope in our troubled society.

Sincerely,

John Sleadd

Covered Bridge Family Ministries

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 Total Reliance on the Lord                                                     Page 2

Covered Bridge Family Ministries acknowledges that apart from God’s Word and the leading of His Holy Spirit we can achieve nothing, even if our intentions are sincere.  “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) We, therefore, throw ourselves before God as imperfect vessels to be used for His purposes, asking that we become a useful instrument for building the Lord’s kingdom. 

We have a strong sense from the Bible that family reformation, particularly with regard to the leadership of fathers, hinges upon the following sequence of events:

1.         The Lord calls men into believing faith

2.        The hearts of fathers are turned to their families 

3.        The hearts of children are turned to their fathers

4.        Parents then disciple and train their children for the transmission of multigenerational faith

5.        Healthy families build healthy churches as beacons of hope for the lost and the broken

 Two passages of scripture, which form prophetic bookends closing the Old Testament and opening the New Testament, speak to the essential role of fathers.

“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or I will come and strike the land with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5, 6)

”And he [John the Baptist] will go on before the Lord to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous -to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17)

We therefore believe that the fundamental purpose of our ministry is to encourage fathers to respond whole-heartedly to the Lord by faith, and to become leaders, readers and servants in their homes, fulfilling their God-appointed roles of protectors, providers and pastors to their families.  Establishing regular devotional habits, maintaining  healthy marriages, and leading family worship are crucial to this end. Another purpose of our ministry is to encourage and equip Christian families to raise up godly children to carry their faith securely into the next generation.

Statement of Faith

As a Christian home education support organization, Covered Bridge Family Ministries agrees with OCEANetwork’s (Oregon Christian Home Education Network) statement of faith

While there are truths other than these which are taught in the Bible (and all Scripture is equally important), this brief statement of faith delineates truths which we believe are essential for Christian fellowship.

A. The Bible alone is the inspired and infallible Word of God and constitutes completed and final revelation. The Bible, in its original autograph, is without error in whole or in part, including theological concepts as well as geographical and historical details. (II Tim. 3:16, II Peter 1:20-21)

B. God alone is self-existent and has existed from all eternity in three eternal and co-equal persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was God, come in human flesh, being fully God and fully man except without sin. (Gen. 1:1; John 10:30, 37-38)

C. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and everything that God created was good. Yet His perfect creation was marred by sin. Through Adam's sin, death and decay entered into this world. (Gen 1:1, 31; Gen 2:16-17; Gen 3:6-10, 23; Rom. 8:20-21; Rom. 5:12)

D. All men are in violation of God's righteous requirements and His holy character both by nature and by act, and are therefore under His wrath and just condemnation. Yet because of God's infinite love and mercy, He sent His Son to bear the penalty of our sins. The central purpose of the coming of Jesus Christ was to atone for sins through His substitutionary death on the cross - the successful accomplishment of which was attested to by His subsequent visible bodily resurrection. (Rom. 3:19; Rom. 5:6-8; Eph. 2:1, 4-5; II Cor. 5:21; Rom. 3:25-26; I Cor. 15:3-6)

E. Salvation is offered as a gift free to the sinner. This gift must be responded to individually in faith, not trusting in any personal works whatsoever, but in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ alone. (Rom. 6:23; John 3:16; Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:21-24; Rom. 10:9)

F. The Holy Spirit is the comforter and counselor, promised by Jesus, who came upon the church at Pentecost and indwells every believer. He is co-equal with the Father and the Son and provides the power which enables individual Christians to live in accord with God's will. (John 14:16-17; Rom. 8:9-11; Rom. 12:2-3; Gal. 3:3; Phil. 2:13)

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Back to the Bible                                                                     Page 3

      A Biblical worldview is the perspective one holds when examining every area of life through the lens of God's Word.   Since beliefs determine behaviors, it is essential that Christians develop a system of reasoning and thought that acknowledges God as the preeminent object and author of all truth.  Jesus said he was "the way, the truth and the life, " and believers are called to take captive every thought and make them obedient to Christ.      (2 Co 10:5)

     Developing a Biblical worldview means considering what the Bible says about every issue from biology to technology, from politics to ethics, from diet to aesthetics.  While the Scriptures may not address every conceivable subject, they do present a basis upon which every issue might be examined. The Bible declares that "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Ti 3:16, 17 KJV). 

     Too often Christian parents take their cues for raising their children from the unbelieving culture instead of from God’s Word.  CBFM believes that the Bible, as God’s inspired and infallible Word, is a sufficient guide for all relevant issues, including parenting.  We must be careful that such things as child development research, psychology, personality traits, and individual learning styles do not supplant the directives of scripture. With this in mind, CBFM recommends that the study of the Bible, along with regular habits of prayer, be the centerpiece of each Christian family’s daily practice. 

Back To Home-Centered Discipleship

     In addition to accepting worldly beliefs, Christians often copy the methods of the unbelieving culture. Many of the educational practices that are popular today actually produce peer-dependent youth who are vulnerable to humanistic philosophies, not people of conviction who value righteousness in Christ. 

     The Bible clearly portrays fathers as the primary teachers and trainers of their children, with mothers serving as helpers. It casts the home as the cradle of faith for succeeding generations (see Gen 18:19; Deut 4:6; Eph 6:4; Ps 127 & 128). It therefore stands to reason that the essential training of children is to take place at home. 

     CBFM recommends that parents choose a model of education that maximizes the  time spent with one’s children, that promotes godly character development, and that emphasizes a Christian worldview.   We find that home education is a superior model for relational discipleship and faith-integrated instruction. 

Back to  Family Unity in Worship

     In many churches today the common practice is to separate the family into age-segregated, peer-oriented groupings.  It is possible that the only common experience a family shares Sunday morning is the car ride to and from the church.  Some churches host additional events (camps, youth groups, etc.) which further reduce the time families spend together. 

     One of CBFM’s goals is to network with local churches to promote the vision of families worshipping and fellowshipping together.  Christian researcher, George Barna’s findings below right underscore the need for family-integrated reformation to take place in the church.

“The result of [youth] involvement at a church is that they can recite some religious facts, they made some friends, and they had fun. That’s wonderful, but we also find that most of them have neither accepted Christ as their savior nor altered the basis on which they make their moral and ethical decisions in life. For most teenagers who have spent years attending church activities their faith is not integrated into who they are and how they live.”  - Barna 2003

“…Most parents proclaim that the spiritual nurturing of their children is their job, but are very happy to let their church shape the child’s faith. Unfortunately, no matter how hard a church tries, it is incapable of bringing a child to complete spiritual maturity: that is the job of the family. The more willing churches are to play the co-dependent role in this drama, the less likely we are to see spiritually healthy families and a generation of young people who grow into mature believers.”  - Barna 2003

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The End