Family:
A family can be defined as a collective body of persons who share a common bond. In a physical family, this common bond is formed through marriages, births, and adoptions. In a spiritual family, this common bond is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Integrated:
Webster’s Dictionary defines integrate as “to make whole or complete by adding or bringing together parts.” It is also defined as “to remove legal and social barriers imposing segregation … so as to permit free and equal association.”

Church:
A church can be defined as people who publicly worship together.

Now, let’s put these individual meanings together to gain a clearer picture. A family integrated church is a collective body of persons bonded together by Jesus Christ in order to make public worship whole and complete through free and equal association of all its parts. This worship includes the men and the women, the young and the old, the fatherless and the childless, the married couples and the single adults. As we worship together, rather than in separate classes, our spiritual growth is deepened and in turn encourages growth in others.

Biblical Basis for the Family Integrated Church Part One:

A family integrated church is also defined as "a collective body of persons bonded together by Jesus Christ in order to make public worship whole and complete through free and equal association of all its parts." However, if this definition is not rooted in the Bible, it will not go beyond being simply interesting and will not lead to any lasting impact on our world. Therefore, we want to examine the truth contained in the Scriptures to determine if the model of the family integrated church has its basis in the truth of God's Word.

Let us consider the great exodus of God's chosen people out of Egypt as recorded in the Old Testament book of Exodus. In Exodus 10, we see that the Israelites were to employ family integrated worship.

" 'Go, worship the Lord your God,' he [Pharoah] said. 'But just who will be going?' Moses answered, 'We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord.' " [Exodus 10:8-9, NIV]

The exodus was to incorporate worship and this worship was to include the "young and old" and be with the "sons and daughters". The worship was intentional in involving everyone and ensured that no one was excluded. There is much that we can learn today from this example of the Israelites by including everyone in worship together.

The Biblical Basis for the Family Integrated Church, Part 2

The model of the family integrated church, whereby everyone worships together as a body of believers, is demonstrated throughout the Scriptures and this model is one that we can apply to today. Family integrated worship is to be centered on the truth of God’s Holy Word. To further understand the importance of having this focus on the written word of the Lord, let us turn our attention to the Israelites as chronicled in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy.

“… when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 31:11-12, NIV)

Notice that the assembly that is referenced is clearly to exclude no one (men, women, children, and aliens are all to be present). Furthermore, notice that the purpose of the assembly was to listen and learn from God’s law. The idea of segregating into age distinct groups for worship was not the model demonstrated by the Israelites. In addition, the belief that children are unable to listen and learn from God’s Word alongside their parents is foreign to the Scriptures.

While there are many things that are different today from the time that this passage of Scripture was written, the principles of the Bible are always true. May we all use God’s Word and the examples that are contained in it as our standard for life and practice. Worship that involves everyone- men, women, children, and aliens (those that are of different backgrounds and nationalities)- leads to richer and more meaningful worship for all.