The whole world seems to slow down during major holidays. Banks close, restaurants shorten their hours, and people look forward to time away from work.

For ministry leaders, however, holidays often mean the opposite. Work hours grow longer, commitments increase, phone calls multiply, and service planning becomes more complex.

Ministry families operate on a different schedule. As others are slowing down on weekends or planning holiday travel, church leaders are gearing up for services and special events.

For our family, learning to navigate that reality did not mean canceling plans or missing out on celebrations. Instead, it meant creating our own traditions. By committing to carve out time together, we’ve found our own rhythm.

These adjustments don’t make holidays or traditions less special. In many ways, they’ve made them even more meaningful.

Special Moments

Ministry often includes evening meetings, overnight trips, speaking engagements, and unexpected responsibilities that make family life feel anything but predictable.

Traditions can create stability and predictability in an otherwise unpredictable lifestyle.

Every fall and spring, my family plans a vacation to our favorite beach. We usually go during the off-season when prices are lower and crowds smaller.

For us, there’s something special about returning to a familiar place. Our three daughters look forward to these trips for months. They know it will be a time free from interruptions, schedules, and competing demands.

These moments together provide a healthy counterbalance to the unrelenting pace of ministry. They assure children their family will protect and prioritize time with them — no matter how busy life gets.

Time away doesn’t have to involve an expensive vacation. It might mean a weekly family night, pizza for dinner every Friday, or an annual camping trip. The key is consistently finding ways to connect as a family.

In ministry, it is easy for kids to feel like they are competing with the church for attention. Telling family members they are important is not enough. We need to demonstrate it through our presence.

My daughters probably won’t remember many of the sermons I preach. But I hope they do remember their dad and I were there for them. Traditions communicate priorities.

Jesus was always communicating the value of presence. He invited people to spend time with Him. Jesus shared meals, walked with His disciples, attended weddings, and visited friends. He consistently created space to be with others.

We can follow Jesus’ example when creating family traditions. Birthday breakfasts, notes in lunch boxes, and special outings on the first day of summer remind children they are seen and cherished.

Shared Ministry

Building traditions around serving, worshipping, and giving together can help kids develop a healthy view of ministry.

Every year, my family sets a goal for missions giving. It is exciting to work toward our vision together. Not only does this tradition reinforce a biblical discipline, but it also gives us an opportunity to celebrate God’s provision and participate together in what He is doing around the world.

Worship concerts, family camps, and short-term missions trips can also become traditions that strengthen bonds and form faith.

When families intentionally create traditions around ministry, children begin to see themselves as participants in God’s mission rather than spectators watching their parents serve.

Kids who engage with ministry in positive ways will recall the joy, connection, and purpose that came from serving Jesus together instead of just remembering what it cost.

Spiritual Habits

Consistent action and repeated practices help shape hearts over time. If we build spiritual habits at home, these will become natural opportunities for discipleship.

Telling family members they are important is not enough. We need 
to demonstrate 
it through our 
presence.

Praying together before school, reading Scripture during family devotions, and celebrating wins around the dinner table are all discipleship opportunities.

Traditions can be simple. They don’t require a large budget or extensive planning. All it takes are consistency and intentionality to make even small moments impactful.

Making space for time together is an investment not only in family, but in the entire congregation. The example of a healthy home life will speak louder than any sermon series on marriage or parenting.

When churchgoers hear about your habits and traditions, it may inspire them to emulate those things in their own homes. Prioritizing family relationships, honoring marriage, and making memories with children also demonstrates integrity.

Several years ago, I traveled to Israel and visited many of the biblical sites. During my trip, I purchased a candle from a shop in Jerusalem.

Every year since that time, our family has lit the candle on Christmas Eve before reading the nativity story together from the Bible.

This usually happens after a long day of Christmas Eve services, conversations, cleanup, and all the activity that comes with ministry. By the time we get home, everyone is tired.

Yet year after year, this simple tradition remains one of the most meaningful moments of our Christmas celebration. We gather around the soft glow of candlelight and read about the angel’s announcement, the shepherds in the fields, and the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

Throughout Scripture, God’s people created reminders to help future generations remember His faithfulness. These traditions became anchors in hard and complicated seasons.

Ministry families are not immune to loss, disappointment, uncertainty and change. Amid those seasons, traditions can help us remember who we are and how God has always provided.

Family traditions can become testimonies of God’s faithfulness. They remind us God came through before, and He will do it again. Some of the traditions that seem mundane during ordinary times become especially meaningful when life feels challenging.

After the Israelites crossed the Jordan, God instructed them to take 12 stones from the riverbed and set them up in camp. The Lord knew that one day their children would ask, “What do these stones mean?” (Joshua 4:6). This would provide an opportunity for telling the story of God’s faithfulness.

God said, “Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever” (verse 7).

Similarly, by establishing traditions with your family, you are creating moments for pausing, remembering, and recounting the goodness of God.

Family traditions do more than create memories. They are opportunities to pass faith from one generation to the next.

My prayer is that one day, our children will look back on the traditions and moments we’ve shared and ask, “What do these stones mean?”

May each memory give us another opportunity to tell the story of God’s faithfulness.

This article appears in the Summer 2026 issue of Influence magazine.