Canadian Christian parents care deeply about passing their faith to their children, but often wonder how successful they are in their efforts. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) and 15 other ministries are partnering to conduct research into how Canadian evangelical parents understand their role as disciple makers of their children.
The Canadian Evangelical Family Faith Formation Study invites Canadian Christian parents and guardians of children 18 years and younger to take an online survey that will shed light on what helps or hinders them in their role as disciple makers, and how churches and ministries can best support their efforts. The survey begins April 26 and is open for participation until June 7.
“Our research so far shows us that a majority of Canadian Christian parents feel that their success as a parent would partly be measured by whether or not their children became Christians or continue in the faith,” says Lindsay Callaway, Researcher, EFC. “This result doesn’t surprise us, but now we need to hear from more parents about how they are actively attempting to pass their faith to their children. From there, we can begin to understand better how the Church can support them in their efforts.”
From the research, church and ministry leaders will be able to better understand the needs of parents and be more effective partners, including in the creation of resources that meet the needs of parents.
There are benefits for parents also. “Parents who have already participated have shared that they found it a clarifying experience to simply take a little bit of time to think about how they are intentionally sharing and modelling their faith and how they might do that even better,” says Callaway. Participants will also receive the research report when it is completed.
The full list of EFC affiliates who are partners in this project can be found at
www.TheEFC.ca/CEFFFS. The survey is available
here in English,
here in French.
All survey links:
For Parents:
· English:
https://www.research.net/r/89NQRZ7
· French:
https://fr.research.net/r/SV2PL9S
For pastors:
· English:
https://www.research.net/r/8Y2LNDR
· French:
https://fr.research.net/r/R2NK8B8
