By Andy Hale
What if one of the most important things churches can do for families is not give them more to do, but help them recognize the faith formation already happening in everyday life? This week on the CBF Podcast Conversation, Andy Hale welcomes Rev. Dr. Sarah Boberg, Assistant Professor of Christian Education at Campbell University Divinity School and director of the Empowering Families for Spiritual Formation initiative. Through listening sessions, retreats, family events and church partnerships, Sarah and her team are exploring how congregations can better equip parents and caregivers to nurture faith at home.
Their findings reveal a tension 
many families know well: parents deeply want to help their children grow spiritually, yet many feel too busy, underprepared or unsure where to begin. Andy and Sarah talk about why children value meaningful time with parents and caregivers, how churches can unintentionally add to the pressure families already feel and why empowering parents does not mean turning home life into another ministry program. Instead, it means helping families notice the sacred possibilities already present in meals, conversations, questions, routines and ordinary moments together.
For pastors, children’s ministers, parents, and caregivers alike, this conversation offers a hopeful reframing of spiritual formation. Families do not need to become experts before faith can take root. They need encouragement, practical tools and communities that trust them to participate in the formation already unfolding around them. Sarah invites churches to imagine a future in which parents feel less inadequate, children experience faith as part of everyday life and congregations become partners in helping families grow together. Find the podcast here.
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This podcast is presented by:
- Baylor’s Garland School of Social Work: Social workers can be found addressing the full scope of the human experience in churches, schools, prisons, government agencies, senior living centers, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies.
- Baptist Seminary of Kentucky: BSK equips leaders through their Homegrown Initiative, offering ministry leaders training and growth that fits into their busy schedules.
- The Gardner-Webb School of Divinity: The Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity aims to equip, nurture, encourage, and support men and women for their very best service in the Kingdom of God.
- The Center for Congregational Health: Strengthening congregations through consulting, leadership coaching, and intentional ministry.
- The Baptist House of Studies at Union Presbyterian Seminary: Exists by God’s grace to educate, inspire, and support generations of bold, faithful servant leaders as they seek actively to participate in God’s mission in the world.
- Community Transformation Center: Through educational opportunities, community conversations, and research initiatives in collaboration with universities and local leaders, PBACTC is at the forefront of integrating spiritual care into holistic community development.
- Creation Justice Ministries: Creation Justice Ministries equips churches to turn conviction into faithful action with Scripture-based resources, worship guides, and community support to pursue environmental justice and care for God’s creation.
- Dawnings: Through prayerful discernment, storytelling, and collaborative visioning, Dawnings helps churches rediscover their calling and imagine their next chapter—guided by trained facilitators and grounded in God’s ongoing story.
- Congregational Ministries Team of CBF Global: Through coaching, resources, and collaborative support, CBF’s Congregational Ministries Team helps churches and ministers cultivate the five traits of thriving—Rooted Relationships, Compelling Clarity, Holy Tenacity, Strategic Agility, and Dynamic Collaboration—for faithful and flourishing ministry.
- Karis Parenting: Looking for a gift for new families, resource options for Children’s Moments, or even just a beautiful book to read at home with your preschoolers? Karis Parenting is here to help. Karis Parenting is an independent publisher from First Baptist Church of Asheville.
- Faith X: We work with congregations, judicatories, and denominational bodies to assess their strengths and weaknesses, explore missional opportunities and challenges in the neighborhoods they serve, and leverage their strengths to engage community issues. We achieve this through data-grounded consulting, training, and coaching approach.
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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the Associate Executive Coordinator of CBF North Carolina. He’s also served as CBF’s Church Start Specialist, the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton, and the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge. Follow on Twitter @haleandy.