Seventh-day Adventist church member Karen Holford has been elected as chair of Churches Together for Families, a national interfaith group that explores ways in which churches in Britain can work together to support families. Holford, who works alongside her husband in the Adventist Church’s Family Ministries department in the South England region, says the interfaith group is also a forum for sharing ideas and resources, and provides a way for the different churches to have a stronger voice in responding to government initiatives that affect the family.

“It’s exciting to dialogue with the family-focused workers from other churches,” says Holford. “Many of the people I work with have never met an Adventist before, and they have been very impressed with the work the Adventist Church has been doing for families. We are now recognized and respected by many of the different church and family organizations, and we’ve been able to network and learn from each other.”

Holford has worked with the group for five years, initially working on a subcommittee exploring ways to help churches become more family-friendly. This project took a broad focus, she says, looking beyond the needs of families with children to encompass families of all ages, shapes and sizes, in churches large and small. This work has now been published on a Web site, www.churchesandfamilies.org, for churches to download for their own use, and contains information, case studies to discuss, ideas, surveys, and program ideas.

The group’s plans for this year include a special day exploring the role of grandparents in today’s society and churches, and a residential conference looking at how churches can support refugee and immigrant families in their communities.