Family worship is the intentional practice of gathering your household to read Scripture, pray, and sing praises together to God. While Reformed and Presbyterian traditions emphasize this as a vital domestic duty, it is a practice cherished across the broader Reformed tradition as a means for fathers and heads of households to lead their families in the fear and instruction of the Lord.
Family worship is a foundational pillar of the Christian home, wherein the gospel is kept at the center of daily life. According to the 1689 LBCF Ch.22 §6, religious worship is not confined to the church building; rather, God is to be worshipped in private families daily. This practice reminds us that we are all, by nature, prone to wander and prone to neglect our spiritual duties, yet in Christ, we are invited to bring our families before the throne of grace. It is not a ritual to earn God's favor, but a joyful response to the acceptance we already have in Him.
The call to teach our children and households the ways of the Lord is rooted deep in Scripture. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 commands: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." By reading the Word, praying, and singing together, we are not merely performing a duty, but saturating our home life in the reality of the gospel. As we confess in the 1689 LBCF Ch.22 §5, these acts—including the reading of Scripture and singing with grace—are parts of the ordinary religious worship of God that help keep our hearts fixed on Him.