In response to a growing concern over the decline of family worship, the Adventist Church in Australia has launched The Worship Project (TWP), an initiative that provides resources and support for families and individuals to integrate worship into their daily routines.
The project started after children’s and family ministry directors across Australia noticed fewer families were holding worship at home. The concerns were confirmed in a report written by General Conference Office of Archives, Statistics and Research director Dr David Trim. According to the report, less than 50 per cent of survey respondents experience family worship more than once a week.
According to Dr Trim, these statistics contribute to the issue of young members’ retention. “Our systemic failure to worship together as families can’t be helping with the problem of youth attrition,” he wrote.
Pastor Sylvia Mendez, director of children’s and family ministries for the Adventist Church in Australia, explained the importance of developing the habit of daily worship. “It’s very important to our own personal growth and relationship with God. Just like any relationship, if you’re not spending time together, distractions and other things get in the way, and eventually you wake up one day and you go, ‘what happened to that friendship?'”
According to Pastor Mendez, TWP was created to empower families to develop that relationship with God: “We want to resource and support everyone, no matter where they are on their journey with God, to just make a start in developing a daily rhythm with Him.”
A key component of the project is its diverse resources tailored to support spiritual growth across all age groups. Resources currently available include daily devotional videos for children, the I AM six-month devotional journal, TWP app and website, and The Worship Box—a visually appealing beginners worship kit.
“The nuts and bolts of the project are centred around the curate, create and educate. With a huge focus on the educate. For example, what is worship, why do we worship and of course how to worship,” she said, explaining that the concept of worship is not a “cookie cutter” and can look different in each household.
As an ongoing project which has received funding for the first three years, TWP will continue to develop and curate resources to empower family worship. Some of the future resources include courses, podcasts, a Bible study series for children and a family worship conference that will travel around Australia starting in Perth in February 2025.
“God’s invitation to spend time with Him is extended to all people, and the aim of TWP is to facilitate that, to make daily worship a reality for anyone, anytime, anywhere,” said Pastor Mendez.
For more information or to access the resources, visit theworshipproject.org.au, download the TWP app available for Android and iOS, and follow the project on social media for regular updates and educational content.
