Grace before meals
The Power of God at Home: Nurturing Our Children in Love and Grace. By J. Bradley Wigger. Jossey-Bass, 195 pp., $19.95.
Mommy, why do we pray only when the pastor comes over for dinner?" a little girl asked when I joined her family for a Sunday meal. Though her parents no doubt were embarrassed, for me this child-inspired moment gave rise to broader questions of grave importance: Why do so many religious parents find it hard to transport the activities of faith from the sanctuary to the kitchen? Why, in J. Bradley Wigger's words, are children "learning less and less about anything religious at home?" Why is the home "losing its place and power in the life of faith?" When did religious education become the exclusive domain of church professionals?
In a book for parents and for these working with parents in congregations, Wigger portrays the home and family as sacred, immediate and profound "contexts for spiritual learning." His book is meant "for those who hope homes can be places where children will see God's love and know it deeply." Wigger teaches religious education at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary and directs the seminary's Center for Congregations and Family Ministries.
Not a "how-to" book for parenting, this is an invitation for families to live and practice "from a larger vision of meaning, . . . [from] a deeper glimpse into the nature and power of faith itself." The family that interprets itself theologically, asserts Wigger, is the family that derives a unique and deliberate way of being in the world from the resources of faith. Wigger focuses on "the power of home and family life in the story of faith told through the Bible." The concept of the family as a means of grace is further developed through the use of family stories, both his own and those of others, as well as the insights of theologians. Weaving together themes that result in a consistent and attractive world, Wigger moves from the contributions of the resources of faith to his own creative redefinition of traditional doctrines.
