Some Ideas for Family Worship and Personal Study

SINCE the beginning of 2009, the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses began meeting just one evening each week instead of two evenings. Because of this change, the Governing Body encouraged us to use one evening a week for family worship or personal study. Have you been using this time well? What you choose to do during this evening can help you and your family very much.

What should we study during our family worship? The Governing Body does not tell families what they should study every week. Every family has different needs. So the head of the family should think about what his family needs and decide what will help them the most. Individuals can also decide how they can use this time in the best way.

Some families prepare for congregation meetings together. But this is not the only thing that we can do for family worship. Some families read the Bible or some information from our publications and discuss it together. Others prepare a drama about a story in the Bible. This is especially beneficial for young children. So our family worship does not need to be like a meeting in the congregation, where we read paragraphs and ask questions. The time for family worship should be a time when we can talk and say what is in our heart. It is a time when we can use our imagination and have interesting conversations about the things we read in the Bible. In this way, the evenings together as a family will be a happy time for everyone.

One father of three children wrote to explain what his family does for family worship. He has a daughter, Kaitlyn, and two sons, David and Michael. Kaitlyn is 15 years old, David is 13, and Michael is 7. For family worship, the family often uses the chapters from the Bible reading for that week. First everyone reads the chapters. Then the children choose something that they would like to study more about. Later they tell their parents what they learned. Michael often draws a picture or writes something about what he reads. Sometimes David and Kaitlyn write about a story in the Bible as if they were watching what was happening. For example, one week the family read in Genesis chapter 40 about the time when Joseph explained to two of Pharaoh’s slaves what their dreams meant. And Kaitlyn wrote about this as if she were a prisoner watching what was happening.

This is just an example of what families can do during their family worship. Because everyone is different, each person or family can decide what is best for them. The box in this article gives some other ideas of things we can do during family worship or personal study. You can probably think of many other ideas too.

[Box/​Picture on pages 28, 29]

 For families with teenagers:

• Read and talk about a chapter from Questions Young People Ask​—Answers That Work.

• Imagine that you were living in Bible times. (For example, see The Watchtower of May 15, 1996, page 14, paragraphs 17-18.)

• Talk about what you plan to do in Jehovah’s service​—now and in the future.

• Watch one of our videos and talk about it.

• Study the articles “For Young People” in The Watchtower.

For married people with no children:

• Talk together about chapters 1, 3, 11-16 in the book The Secret of Family Happiness.

• Read and study some chapters of the Bible, and talk about what you learn.

• Prepare the Congregation Bible Study or the Watchtower Study.

• Talk about how you could do more in Jehovah’s service.

For those who are single or alone in the truth:

• Study the new publications that we have received at our district conventions.

• Read the Yearbook and also Yearbooks of other years.

• Learn how to answer different questions that people ask when you preach to them.

• Prepare some ideas of what to say to people in the preaching work.

For families with young children:

• Prepare a drama about a story from the Bible.

• Play games, for example by using page 31 of Awake!

• Do something that encourages the children to use their imagination. (For example, see “Studying the Bible​—In the Zoo!” in Awake! of March 8, 1996, pages 16-19.)

• Read together the articles “Teach Your Children” in The Watchtower.