I first heard about Dr. Donald S. Whitney through a book entitled The Spiritual Disciplines for
the Christian Life . I was assigned that book while in seminary, and it meant the world to me. 1
From then on, I paid attention when I heard his name mentioned. Eventually, I heard his name
associated with a title that utilized two words that are rarely seen together in modern church
culture.
Family Worship, by Dr. Whitney, was published through Crossway in 2016. Its simple title 2
reflected an intentionally accessible booklet with a practical purpose. The book is only 78
pages and only 58 of those make up the introduction and chapters! Really, this book could be
read in one sitting.
I hope you can see why I chose to begin our “Top 5” blog series with this book. Although it
was hard to narrow the search down to 5 quotes, here are some of my favorites:
1. “Parents should teach the things of God to their children at every opportunity, as the verse
(Deut. 6:4-7) says, and they should do so with their children, individually and collectively.
But both in biblical times and today, the best time for parents to teach the things of God
to their children are present would be during a time of family worship.” (p. 19)
2. “Since the church is comprised of family units—from singles to large families and
everything in between—if the homes are changed through family worship, the church will
be changed.” (p. 35)
3. “Whatever time you choose, consider the wisdom of adapting a time when the family is
already accustomed to being together, rather than trying to create another routine
gathering during the day.” (p. 51)
4. “Youthful newlyweds to senior-citizen empty nester couples and everyone in between is
called to worship God regularly in their home because God is worthy of our daily worship
as families.” (p. 56)
5. “Single men—resolve to begin a time of worship with your fiancée from the night you
become engaged. Build your marriage from the start on the foundation of family
worship.” (p.66)
This book is for every family in your church. I normally keep several copies in order to give
them out to anyone even mildly interested. Because of the book’s size, style, and affordability,
I would recommend churches buy in bulk. If you are one of the preaching pastors of your
church, and you preach a passage that deals with home discipleship, you might consider
passing out one copy per family as they leave the church service. While it’s pretty normal to hear that people don’t like to read, giving a free booklet with no strings attached will make it
more likely that they’ll take a look.
If you’ve ever wanted to know more about what family worship is or how to do it, you could
read this book and have your first family worship time in the same day! You’ll learn some of
what the bible has to say on the subject, important voices from church history, and how to
practically implement the practice into your family’s routine. I hope you’re as encouraged by it
as I continue to be!
1 https://amz.run/4Fi6
2 https://amz.run/4Fi8