The distinctives below were modified from those developed by Voddie Baucham, of Grace Family Baptist Church of Spring, TX. You can visit their website at http://www.gracefamilybaptist.net/
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Distinctives of Grace Family Church of Americus, a Family Integrated Church (FIC)
In simple terms, a Family Integrated Church (FIC) is a group of believers who gather together regularly for the purpose of worship, prayer, and the exposition of Scripture, who encourage one another and strengthen one another in the Christian faith, who seek to spread the Gospel message to their communities and to the world, by becoming mature in their faith and personally teaching their family to do the same in the context of the Christian home. The idea of family integration is simply the thrust of the FIC movement to bring the Church back to its biblical roots of obedience to the commands of Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 5 and 6 and similar Scriptures, which command multigenerational faithfulness through the discipleship and evangelism of children in the home.
Families Worship Together
Part of the concept of the FIC church is the encouragement of families to worship God together, both in the corporate worship setting and in the home. The corporate worship service is simply an extension of that worship which should take place in the home. Therefore, families are encouraged to worship together, and never will families be asked to separate during worship. For this reason, we do not provide nursery services, but rather encourage parents to teach and discipline their own children in order that they are assimilated as an integral part of the assembly of believers gathered together to worship God as a cohesive group.
No Systematic Age Segregation
In modern churches, the practice of age segregation is common and accepted as an effective model for discipleship and evangelism. These age-segregated ministries are commonly called Sunday School, Youth Ministries and Children’s Ministries. While these are the commonly accepted model, there is no Scriptural basis for such practices. The biblical commands of discipleship and evangelism are placed on parents, not on the church. These age-segregated ministries have also been proven to work against the biblical model. Parents who are relieved of their discipleship duties tend to become dependent on those who have taken over the job. And finally, we have seen through extensive study that these ministries which incorporate age segregation have failed and have been at least partly responsible for the current rate of loss of 75 to 88% of evangelical teens by the end of their freshman year in college. Therefore, the FIC, being committed to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, and committed wholly to the glory of God, does not implement these ministries which are unbiblical and antithetical to the biblical command of multigenerational faithfulness.
Evangelism/Discipleship Through Homes
We teach parents to evangelize and disciple their children and their neighbors. Evangelism and discipleship are urgent commands to the New Testament Church, and we believe that the call to urgent, militant evangelism of friends, family, neighbors, our community and the world begins with a solid foundation of discipleship laid by parents who teach the foundations of the Christian faith from the Scriptures to their children in the home. A fully devoted disciple of Jesus Christ, equipped with a biblical worldview, will be salt and light in the earth, to proclaim the Gospel to the nations for the glory of Christ, and the biblical mandate for making such disciples is to begin in the home. We emphasize the ministries of hospitality, family worship, catechism, and family discipleship. Thus, instead of placing the burden on paid professionals to “do the work of the ministry,” we equip the saints to do it.
Education as a Key Component of Discipleship
Jesus said, “A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). Whoever educates a child is discipling that child. We will work hard to help parents to see the importance of Home and Christian education, and to help them make biblical choices as it relates to this part of their children’s discipleship.