Bibliographical Entry
Pipes, Dr. Jerry and Victor Lee. Family to Family.
United States of America: Jerry F. Pipes, 1999.
Author Information
The authors of the book are Dr. Jerry Pipes and Victor Lee. Dr. Jerry Pipes is the Director of
Jerry Pipes Productions. Dr. Pipes has spoken to missions of people at various events in his
international travels. Dr. Pipes has authored four books as well as numerous booklets and
training materials. Victor Lee is the Minister of Single Adults and Evangelism at First Baptist
Concord located in Knoxville, TN. Victor is editor for a variety of Christian publications as well
as a regular contributor and has been writing professionally for many years. Victor’s sports and
evangelism materials have been distributed worldwide. Victor began full-time ministry in 1995.
Content Summary
Family to Family is a plan for helping parents pass their faith on to their children and spend
meaningful time with them to discover God’s purpose for them in their lives despite the
challenges of today’s fast paced environment.
Many of today’s families in America have fallen victim to American culture. Did you know
that only 34 percent of America’s families eat one meal a day together and that only 12 percent
of America’s families pray together? Many parents feel frustrated in how their lives seem to
have become hurried, unfocused, and activity driven and what this book does is to help families
discover God’s purpose for them. Healthy families cannot exist without spending quality time
together. Parents need to be willing to invest time in their children. If the children are spending
more time with their athletic coaches or dance teachers than the parents, then who has the greater
influence on them? Also, investing time in your children gives the parent the opportunity to
know what is going on in their lives. Family to Family describes several ways to spend quality
and quantity time together. The author’s state the importance of each family developing a
mission statement as a way of making their priorities the same as those of Jesus Christ. This is
basically a statement to what the members of the family agree to live by. The book also tells the
reader how to develop a family mission statement and the importance of the family “owning”
that statement. The book also describes how to mentor you children to maturity. Although the
church can help the parent raise their children in faith, it cannot replace the parent as a spiritual
mentor. The children must see what the parent is trying to teach them through the actions of the
parent in their daily lives. The book also describes the keys to healthy family worship and
applying that worship to everyday life.
Family to Family also tells the reader how to take the family mission out of the house and into
the world through ministry evangelism. The book lists Oscar Thompson’s Concentric Circles of
Concern as a good example to follow. This describes building relationships through Christianity
and the sharing of faith from self to others through seven circles. The book also makes it a point
to state the importance of linking ministry in the neighborhood with ministry in the church. This
gives the person who is being ministered to a place to go for fellowship and to grow in Christ.
Evaluation
The authors have achieved their attended purpose with a well-defined plan for developing a
family mission statement through a four-step process: take a family inventory; consider your
goals; conceptualize the statement; fine-tune and personalize the statement. The authors also
state the importance of children being involved in the family mission statement corresponding to
their ability. For families who are starting late, the book gives steps for working with those
families also. There is also a well-defined plan for a parent to mentor their children and for
assisting in determining when a child is ready to receive Christ. The purpose of the book doesn’t
stop there, however. It continues to emphasize growing the faith through servant evangelism or
taking one’s faith outside the home and then connecting the results of that outside evangelism to
the church.
The main theme is convincing in that the steps and the goals seem realistic and attainable. The
problem in American families is a real problem and this book offers a genuine solution to that
problem. The authors approach this problem with the idea that if families in America develop a
mission statement with Christ as the centerline, then this will provide that family with a road
through life. You may not always know where that road is going to lead you, but with a family
mission statement, you will know when you have veered from that path. When things are not
always clear in life, that centerline will provide you with the focus you need to stay centered.
The authors arguments seem logical and well supported. There are several individual
examples of families in the book who have used these ideas to make their families more Christ
centered by creating a family mission plan and by parents investing real quality and quantity
time with their children, such as making the family meal together. The author’s warn, however,
that Family to Family is not a quick fix. The reward of becoming a healthy, Christ centered
family, however, is worth the time invested.
The evidence that the authors offer to support the main theme are the stories of the individual
families in the book who have applied these ideas and been successful in establishing a Christ
centered life for their families. Other evidence or credibility comes from recommending Oscar
Thompson’s book, Concentric Circles of Concern, as the basis for ministry evangelism in going
from out of the house and into the world. Thompson’s book is a known work in ministry
evangelism.
The author’s conclusion is that the response of the reader is what will determine whether or
not we choose to pass on our faith to our children and take back our lives from the numerous
worldly activities that we center them around and instead, center our lives around Jesus Christ
and prioritize our activities from our family mission statements. The author’s encourage the
reader to respond to the call and ask God to reveal what His dream is for you family and to pass
the baton of faith onto your future generations.
What is significant about the book is that it addresses a real problem with families in America.
If only 34 percent of American families are eating one meal together each day and only 12
percent praying together, then that is an alarming problem that needs to be addressed. The
authors are theologically biased in the answer to the problem, giving a Christ centered family
mission plan as the answer.
The book teaches the reader how to have a Christ centered family in today’s fast faced world
by developing a family mission statement. This statement will help the family grow in faith and
be the road through life for the family to follow. The book also teaches the reader that the family
mission statement isn’t just confined to the house, but outside the house and into the world
through evangelism ministry.
Anyone who is a parent should read this book. Also, any teenager who wants to see their
family’s life become Christ centered should read this book. This book would also be a useful
tool for any adult education teachers in the church. They could implement the book as a class for
any parents in the congregation and well as offer the class to parents in the community who are
not members as part of an outreach program. This would be an excellent opportunity for the
church to go outside its doors and also provide an opportunity for church families to share their
faith with others.
I must admit that I was alarmed when I saw the statistics regarding the percentage of families
that eat one meal together a day and the percentage of families that pray together. It has made
me take a good look at my family’s schedule!