A Legacy of Faith

Nurturing Faith in the Next Generation

Brandon James, 2020 DMin in Pastoral Ministry

Family Pastor, First Baptist Hendersonville, Hendersonville, TN

Several years ago, I came across a Volkswagen commercial that made me laugh. A son awkwardly throws a baseball to his father, who then returns the ball just as awkwardly. While the dad throws the ball, the narrator says, “Pass down something he will be grateful for,” and the camera pans to a new Volkswagen sitting in the driveway. As a father myself, and a family pastor charged with leading a next-generation ministry, that statement stirred within me a desire to help parents pass down something their children will be grateful for—not a new car, but a life of faith and surrender to the Lord.

When thinking about a legacy of faith, I can’t help but consider my own family. My grandfather lived in China as a little boy, as my great-grandfather served as a medical missionary during the 1920s. He grew up and became a physician himself. He also raised my father, who became a pastor, to know and love the Lord. My passion for serving the Church and helping her accomplish the Great Commission was nurtured by my father, who modeled and taught me what it means to make disciples of all nations. I’m grateful for a family legacy of faith. It impacted my life and my children’s lives for eternity.

Throughout Scripture, God reveals his desire for one generation’s faith to pass down to the next generation. If God thinks generationally, shouldn’t the Church? And if so, how can the Church help nurture generational faith among her people? Scripture asserts our faith affects children yet unborn (Psalm 78:6). The Psalmist also declares that “one generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4 ESV).

I firmly believe the Church’s ministry to the next generation determines the Church’s health. A church that works hard to see children and students come to faith in Jesus, discipled and unleashed into the world as Great Commission Christians, is a church that reflects the heartbeat of the New Testament. However, it seems many churches struggle to do this.

During my time studying in the Doctor of Ministry program at SEBTS, I focused my research on developing a strategic plan to help churches partner with families to cultivate generational faith, called the NextGen Parent Pathway. While researching, I learned parents often do not disciple their children because they feel unequipped. Sadly, many churches have not created avenues or pathways to guide parents on the journey of spiritually developing their children. Instead, parents become co-dependent upon the church to ensure their kids receive adequate spiritual formation.

During his DMin studies, Brandon James and his staff developed the NextGen Parent Pathway to help assist parents in his church with discipleship throughout each stage of their child’s life.

When Covid-19 hit in the spring of 2020, families all over the United States were no longer able to depend on regular church programming for their children. Churches that had adequately equipped and resourced parents to disciple their children and teens at home thrived, while others scrambled to develop a strategy. Through my study in the next generation DMin program, I became intent on ensuring that the Church helps parents develop a plan to make disciples in their home.

At First Baptist Hendersonville, where I serve as family pastor, we recently introduced parents to the NextGen Parent Pathway. Our team designed the pathway to partner with parents to spiritually invest in their children and cultivate faith in their family for generations to come. The pathway includes a visual overview of the parent’s journey from birth to graduation and contains tools for parents to foster faith in the home. By equipping parents, I believe the church can lead the next generation to embrace and live the Great Commission.

The pathway has created a renewed excitement among parents in our church to take ownership of discipling their children. Not long after introducing the pathway and resources, one mom showed me the Scripture memory cards associated with the pathway hanging in their van so their family can practice memorizing Scripture throughout the week. Another parent eagerly began sharing with families from the community about the church’s opportunity to help them on their parenting journey. The pathway gives parents a clear understanding of how they can engage in spiritual disciplines as a family while also presenting a plan for church and missions engagement.

From the time a child is born, parents have 936 weeks until they graduate. Time goes quickly, and the church must work diligently to help parents nurture their child’s heart toward the heart of God. I recently had the privilege of filling out two reference forms for former students applying with the International Mission Board. Both of these students grew up in a church that prioritized the next generation, emphasized the truth that every student ought to embrace the Great Commission and had parents who intentionally led them to surrender their lives to the Lord. Their hearts’ desire now is to make disciples of all nations. My prayer is that the Church sees many more like them for generations to come.

Brandon James is seeking to equip the next generation to love and follow Christ, one family at a time.