Family Worship According to Puritan Richard Baxter

This is a paper I wrote on Richard Baxter's understanding of family worship in case you have a special interest in the topic.

        Introduction

            Richard Baxter (1615-1691) was an English Puritan minister, known for his extensive body of work, including The Reformed Pastor (1656) and The Saints’ Everlasting Rest (1650).[1] Baxter, like many of his pastoral contemporaries, was a strong proponent of family worship, the practice of families praying and learning the Scriptures together in the home. As this study will seek to demonstrate, Richard Baxter’s understanding of family worship is thoroughly consistent with what the Bible teaches about the necessity and practice of family worship and his model of family worship is translatable to a variety of church contexts today.

        Biographical Information of Richard Baxter

Richard Baxter was born in 1615 in the English village of Rowton, Shropshire as the first (and only) child of Richard Baxter, Sr. and Beatrice Adeney. Since his mother was in poor health and his father was a gambler, young Richard grew up with his grandparents for the first ten years of his life until his father became a believer and he returned home.[2] Baxter became a believer at the age of fifteen.[3] Baxter received some education from a variety of teachers in his younger years, some of them being better suited to educate and mentor a young man than others, and began an informal tutelage under the chaplain of Ludlow Castle, Richard Wickstead as an older teenager. From there, Baxter was largely self-taught, but was a prolific reader of theology and philosophy.[4] As Baxter learned in these younger years, he was exposed to the nonconformist movement, a Christian movement outside of and away from the Church of England, first growing sympathetic towards and later growing fond of this position.[5] Baxter was ordained as a deacon of the Church of England in Worcester in 1638, when he was twenty-three years old.[6] Following a few months of serving as a schoolmaster, Baxter took a position as an assistant minister in Bridgenorth, Shropshire in 1639.[7] In 1641, he accepted the call to be the pastor in the town of Kidderminster, where he spent the majority of the rest of his ministry.[8] The following year, however, at the start of the English Civil War, Baxter left Kidderminster to minister to the soldiers for the next four years.[9] He became ill and left the army, soon returning to Kidderminster after and pastored there for the next several years. However, his frail health had caught up with him, leaving him nearly at death’s door for the rest of his life. This experience invigorated Baxter to use his time well, preaching “as a dying man to dying men.”[10] Also around this time, Baxter married Margaret Charlton, whom he dearly adored for her zeal for godliness and her wisdom.[11]In 1660, the Puritan pastor left Kidderminster to preach elsewhere and in 1662, he was ousted from the Church of England by the Act of Uniformity. That year, he spent much of his time in jail for his preaching and was sentenced to serve eighteen months. Following his release, he spent his final years writing and preaching, eventually succumbing to his poor health on December 8, 1691.[12] Throughout his life, the English pastor had managed to write over 150 books as well as numerous sermons and letters.[13]

The historical and pastoral setting of Richard Baxter is especially relevant when considering his understanding of family worship. Family worship was a practice already commonplace in church history and important to the Puritans, as was the understanding of the father as the spiritual head of the home. Further, the Puritans placed great importance on religious education and discipline in the home.[14] The Puritans, including Baxter himself, often spoke of the home as being like a small church.[15] However, family worship was, surprisingly, nearly absent the town of Kidderminster when he first arrived as pastor. Fortunately, Baxter’s passion for family worship and his practice of equipping families to have family worship was infectious – by the end of his ministry in 1661, family worship was nearly unanimous among the families of the town.[16] Additionally, while Baxter did not create or revolutionize the idea of family worship, he did advocate for catechisms as a pillar of that practice, which later pastors like Charles Spurgeon emulated.[17]

        Family Worship According to Richard Baxter

Baxter, being a prolific author and preacher, addressed family worship in many places, but for the purpose of this study, his words in A Christian Directory and The Reformed Pastor will be the primary focus. In defining key terms, Baxter defined a “family” as those living in the same household and “worship” as a religious act done with the intention to honor God.[18] He noted that worship involves prayer, learning the Scriptures, and more formal, ecclesiastical matters such as preaching and discipline.[19] Family worship in particular involves reading, teaching, and applying the Scriptures.[20] He also advised that the “governor” or “head” of the household, meaning the father of the home, should be primary leader in family worship.[21]

In his Christian Directory, his manual on practical theology, the English pastor exhaustively outlined the necessity of and motivations for family worship lead by the heads of each household, referencing more than fifty biblical passages.[22] The family is instituted by God and given abundant ability, opportunity, and motivation to worship God, and is not prohibited to worship together. Therefore, Baxter reasoned, families should worship. The preacher also found the necessity of family worship in the “law of nature,” the way in which the world and the family are constructed.[23] The Puritan preacher also saw the continual urging of the Scriptures to pray, the believers’ blessed ability to come to God in prayer, and the many examples of people continually praying in the Bible as necessarily implying that prayer must be an essential part of the godly home.[24] Family worship, especially in regards to evangelizing one’s children, was a weighty matter to Baxter. As he explained, “Little do most parents know what abundance of care and labor got requires of them but the sanctifying and saving of their children's souls. Consider your Fitness for so great at work before you undertake it.”[25] For the Puritan, the producing of “godly seed” is “the purpose” of marriage and the salvation of their children should be the chief goal of parents.[26] He believed the primary teaching and evangelizing that children are to receive is in the home, taking priority even over the preaching ministry of the church.[27] In the home, parents were to lead in family worship by instructing the children at a level suitable for them and settling for simple familiarity with important concepts for the youngest children, teaching their children to read so they could read the Scriptures, utilizing catechisms (starting with simpler ones first), teaching by means of questions, privately asking and counseling each child about what he has been learning, emphasizing our ruined state of sin and God’s offer of salvation, teaching them how to pray (with or without models), and making family worship simple and pleasant.[28] He also urged parents to consider the necessity of their faithfulness in family worship in light of what Christ did to make our salvation possible and the great worth of the souls of their children.[29]

Baxter desired for families not only to see the need to worship together, he also desired to equip them to do so regardless of their financial resources or education. Baxter taught that families should be equipped for family worship in two primary ways. First, each household in a church should be visited by their pastor at least once a year. The importance and fruitfulness of this practice of Baxter’s was a large part of the focus of The Reformed Pastor. Families should be visited by their pastor so the pastor could engage them more personally, answer questions and clarify doctrinal issues with them, ensure they are understanding the catechism their family is using, and help them know, trust, and open to their pastor.[30] He noted that this practice was so effective in discipling families that one of these pastoral visits could do more for growing their faith than many sermons.[31] Further, the English pastor stressed that these visits are vital to help congregants, who are often ignorant even of matters like the Trinity, to understand the Bible and to convict and convert any lost people from the church.[32] Baxter followed this practice of pastoral visiting himself, devoting one or two days a week to this task and urging other pastors to do the same.[33] While Baxter strongly believed these pastoral visits were of great importance, he also cautioned that everyday church members may not initially see the value in them and need to be convinced in convicting and instructive sermons.[34] Second, Baxter argued that families should be equipped for family worship with solid catechisms. Baxter himself wrote three catechisms, two of them being simpler catechisms published in his Poor Man’s Family Book[35] and the other, a more intermediate or advanced catechism, being published as The Catechizing of Families.[36] He urged either the pastors or the rich in congregations to help the poorer congregants in the purchase of catechisms and other edifying books.[37] He also advised that fathers should be careful in their teaching of the Scriptures, not straying into matters too deep or difficult and going to their pastors for help when they are unsure about an issue or question.[38]

        Analysis and Application

Baxter’s understanding of family worship is thoroughly consistent with the teaching of the Bible. He rightly identified the priority of worship and discipleship in the home, giving the responsibility to the parents and especially the fathers. The Puritan preacher also rightly emphasized the importance of pastoral help in family discipleship. Baxter understood that a pastor will (generally) be better equipped to dive deep into Scripture and answer theological questions than the average church members. He also recognized that pastors should be involved with their sheep and gauge their spiritual health and doctrinal understanding. Finally, Baxter wisely recommended that pastors help the families in their churches with their family worship by providing resources like catechisms. Baxter also used sound logic and biblical wisdom in arguing for the duty of family worship and in explaining how it should be done. The Bible explicitly commands God’s Word to continually be on the hearts and minds of his people (Deut 6, Psalm 1) and for parents to teach their children about the Lord (Gen 18:19, Deut 6 and 11:19, Psalm 78:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12), with the husband being the primary teacher (1 Cor 14:35, Eph 6:4). Baxter wisely recognized that the natural application of these two principles was for families to regularly learn God’s Word together and that the neglect of families regularly spending time in the Scriptures together is a shirking of a biblical duty. Family worship is the right thing for families to do and as James said, “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 1:17, ESV).

Baxter also used biblical wisdom and practical methodology in executing and commending his plan of pastoral care and equipping for all the families in a church. As Williams observed, Baxter successfully argued for the necessity of family worship and lived out an excellent example of how to cultivate family worship in the church.[39] The Scriptures direct pastors to preach and teach their congregants (Eph 4:11, 1 Tim 4:13-16, 2 Tim 2:2 and 4:1-6, Titus 1:9) and presents pastors as responsible for the soul care of the congregation (1 Thess 5:12-13, Heb 13:17, 1 Pet 5:1). While the Scriptures do not explicitly detail how pastors should provide pastoral care and discipleship to the families in their churches, Baxter’s instruction for pastors to visit and engage with their congregants in their homes is certainly a helpful way to be among the sheep (Acts 20:28, James 5:14-20, 1 Peter 5:2) and follows Ezra’s model of “family ministry” to the Israelites, in which the Levites ensured the families understood the Scripture as it was read to them (Neh 8:6-12). Similarly, while the Scriptures do not require catechisms at all, let alone for each family to own and use a catechism, giving each family in the church a catechism or similar discipleship resource is a practical way to help families learn God’s Word together.

The model of family worship that Baxter commended can be implemented in churches today in a variety of ways. First, pastors can and should work to ensure the families of their church receive ministerial care. In churches with a plurality of elders and deacons who are involved in member care, this task becomes much easier. Even Baxter himself eventually brought in someone else to help him in checking on his church’s families.[40] Pastors and deacons should work together to ensure every household in their church receives some kind of individual care, whether through home visits to evaluate theological understanding and discipleship needs or even regular phone calls to check in and pray. Second, pastors can and should teach the importance of family worship and help families with resources for family worship. Pastors and other teachers in the church, as they seek to teach “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27, ESV) will inevitably encounter passages that speak to family worship and should use these opportunities to faithfully teach the necessity of family worship. They can also specifically highlight the importance of discipleship in the home – perhaps utilizing existing holidays like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, in topical series, near the time when the children of the church are promoted to the next class, and so on. Additionally, pastors can use or recommend a variety of resources for families to use for in-home discipleship and worship. Churches that use hymnals can provide their families with one, or recommend they use websites with free hymn lyrics.[41] Pastors can write devotional materials or make short devotional videos for their church members.[42] They could also simply recommend preexisting devotional materials, which are abundantly available in print books, online books, and online blogs or podcasts.[43] Third, pastors can and should recommend catechisms to the families in their churches. Today, there are numerous historic catechisms that have been reprinted, some even in being lightly modernized, and modern catechisms that draw from the great historic catechisms are also available.[44] These catechisms can be used in the home, in the church worship service, in the church children’s or youth ministries, or even on church websites and social media. The abundance of free or very inexpensive devotional resources today alleviates the problem that Baxter faced of families with less money not being able to have their own home discipleship material. If in Baxter’s day, refusing to have family worship was sinful, surely in our day, with so many rich theological resources so easily accessible, we sin against the Lord by refusing the duty and blessing of family worship.

        Conclusion

This study has examined the life and historical setting of Richard Baxter, his understanding and pastoral support of family worship, and the truthfulness and usefulness of the Puritan preacher’s view of family worship. Baxter’s work should be commended for its thoroughness, biblical accuracy, and practicality, and as Baxter desired in his own day, pastors and families should rally behind family worship as a vital part of the Christian home. The practice of family worship is perhaps more accessible and achievable now than ever before with the myriads of resources and opportunities presented to the church today. It is up to the church, the pastors, the homes, and the fathers of today to, like Baxter, see the importance of family worship and live it out, all for the glory of God.

        Bibliography

Baxter, Richard and Randall J. Peterson. The Godly Home. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010.

Baxter, Richard. The Poor Man’s Family Book: Teaching him how to become a true Christian. 2. How to Live as a Christian, towards God, himself and others, in all his relations especially in his Family. 3. How ever to Die as a Christian in Hope and Com- fort, and to be Glorified with Christ for In plain familiar Conferences between A Teacher and a Learner. Archive.org. https://archive.org/details/catechizingoffam00baxt/page/n3/mode/2up.

–––. The Reformed Pastor. Puritan Paperbacks 14. Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2020.

–––. A Teacher of Households: How to Teach Their Households: Useful Also to Schoolmasters, and Tutors of Youth. For those that are past the common small catechisms, and would grow to a more rooted faith, and to the fuller understanding of all that is commonly needful to a safe, holy, comfortable and profitable life. Archive.org. https://archive.org/details/catechizingoffam00baxt/page/n3/mode/2up.

Beeke, Joel and Randall J. Pederson. Meet the Puritans. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2006. Digital Edition.

Ryken, Leland. Worldly Saints: The Puritans As They Really Were. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986.

 

Spalding, James C. “Baxter, Richard (1615–1691).” In Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992.

Williams, Jonathan. A Practical Theology of Family Worship: Richard Baxter’s Timeless Encouragement for Today’s Home. Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2021.

 


[1] James C. Spalding, “Baxter, Richard (1615–1691),” in Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992), 30.

[2] Joel Beeke and Randall J. Pederson, Meet the Puritans (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2006), digital edition,

[3] Jonathan Williams, A Practical Theology of Family Worship: Richard Baxter’s Timeless Encouragement for Today’s Home (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2021), 17.

[4] Meet the Puritans, 52.

[5] Williams, 18-9.

[6] Williams, 19.

[7] Williams, 19.

[8] Williams, 19-20.

[9] Williams, 20.

[10] Williams, 21.

[11] Meet the Puritans, 54.

[12] Williams, 21-3.

[13] Meet the Puritans, 54.

[15] Ryken, 84-6.

[16] Williams, 5.

[17] Williams, 89-94.

[18] Richard Baxter and Randall J. Peterson, The Godly Home (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 58-9.

[19] Ibid., 58. He noted that some forms of worship, such as the Lord’s Supper, seem to be reserved for the formal gathering of the church. See ibid., 60-1.

[20] Ibid., 71.

[21] Ibid., 59-61.

[22] Williams, 2.

[23] Ibid., 61-70.

[24] Ibid., 76-8, 81-6, and 94-7.

[25] Ibid., 35, cf. 101.

[26] Ibid., 46 and 190-1.

[27] Ibid., 119.

[28] Ibid., 213-24.

[29] Ibid., 224.

[30] Richard Baxter The Reformed Pastor, Puritan Paperbacks 14 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2020), 171-9.

[31] Ibid., 198.

[32] Ibid., 218-20.

[33] Ibid., 9 220-3.

[34] Ibid., 244-5.

[37] Reformed Pastor, 79 and 227.

[38] Godly Home, 71-2 and 215.

[39] Williams, 104.

[40] Williams, 89.

[41] For example, see Sovereign Grace Music, https://sovereigngracemusic.com/music/songs/, for a mix of contemporary and traditional hymns and Hymnary, https://hymnary.org/, for traditional hymns.

[42] For an example of written devotionals, see Sam Richardson, “Family Bible Reading,” https://familybiblereading.blogspot.com/. For two examples of video devotionals, see Hazelwood Baptist Church, https://www.facebook.com/HazelwoodBaptist, and Ninth & O Baptist Church, https://www.facebook.com/NAOBC.

[43] For book options, see D. A. Carson, For the Love of God, two volumes, The Gospel Coalition, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/publication/for-the-love-of-god-volume-1/; Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024); Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Kevin DeYoung, and Don Clark, The Biggest Story Family Devotional (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024); Charles Spurgeon and Alistair Begg, Morning and Evening: A New Edition of the Classic Devotional Based on The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2025). For online options, see Alistair Begg, “Alistair Begg Daily Devotional,” Truth for Life, https://www.truthforlife.org/devotionals/alistair-begg/archive/; John Piper, “Solid Joys Daily Devotional,” Desiring God, https://open.spotify.com/show/0JhHz8XP7Zeuorxr2CllKQ; and Our Daily Bread,” Our Daily Bread Ministries, https://www.odbm.org/devotionals.

[44] Many historic catechisms can be found in Chad Van Dixhoorn, Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader's Edition (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022) and Ligonier Editorial, We Believe: Creeds, Catechisms, and Confessions of Faith (Ligonier Ministries, 2023). A historic creed in modern language is Benjamin Keach and John Piper, A Baptist Catechism: Adapted by John Piper, Desiring God, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/a-baptist-catechism. Modern catechisms include Colin Hansen (ed.), The New City Catechism Devotional: God's Truth for Our Hearts and Minds (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022) and Kevin Hippolyte, Jared Kennedy, Trey Kullman, Faith Builder Catechism: Devotions to Level Up Your Family Discipleship (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2023).

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