When families are faced with crises and challenges— unemployment, the untimely death of a family member, natural disasters and chronic illnesses— those who seem to weather the crisis best are often those who have an active spiritual dimension to their lives together. And in times of joy and celebration families with strong spiritual lives rejoice in deeper and more wondrous ways. But what exactly is it that characterizes faith and spirituality in family life? Identifying resilience, strength, and faith in the stories of all kinds of families, Sacred Stories of Ordinary Families motivates readers to think about how faith shapes their own family lives. Drawn from Diana R. Garland's extensive interviews with 110 families, this book includes stories from ordinary families whose lives together both reveal and rely on extraordinary faith.
Almost 40 years ago, I began my practice as a social worker in church-related settings-- first a Baptist child and family services agency, and then a Christian counseling center. Still later, I served in a Catholic residential treatment home for adolescent girls who had been abused, most of them sexually. In those settings, I began to try to find ways to equip congregations to support and strengthen families, to build communities of care and advocacy for the most vulnerable members of our communities. That work became my vocation when I became a social work educator in 1979. For more than 30 years, as a researcher and social work professor and consultant to congregations, I have had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the development of congregations' family and community ministries. Now I love watching my former students take paths beyond what I ever dreamed to lead congregations to be transformational agents in the lives of children, families, and communities, not just locally but all over the world. I laugh a lot these days in sheer amazement--in those early days, I could never have imagined a school like Baylor Social Work, charting new paths for the church and her work in the world. These books tell the story of what I have learned from families and congregations about the Christian adventure called ministry.
