Returning to the Family Altar

A commentary and study guide on the Directory for Family Worship.

This book meets an urgent need in today’s church. Taking as its basis a document from the past, it explains the text and shows in a most helpful and compelling way the relevance of family worship for the present day. In his preface, Douglas Comin writes:

“A big part of the solution to the erosion of Biblical family life lies in a return to the sincere and consistent practice of family worship. The generation that produced the Westminster Confession of Faith (1643-1647) faced a cultural situation not unlike our own, where the trappings of a profane and self-interested existence threatened to erode the foundations of family, church and national life. We may tend to think of the Churchmen of this era as stuffy old puritans who knew their theology better than most, but weren’t much in tune with practical life issues. Such, however, was not the case. These men were deeply burdened to lay a foundation for the reformation, preservation and propagation of true Christianity in all its practical manifestations. They were keenly interested in the application of God’s truth to every area of life, both public and private. They understood that only in the preservation of God’s design for families, churches and nations can there be hope for the future. They recognised that healthy, Christ-centered families were the key to rebuilding and maintaining a solid foundation upon which the nation could prosper. They knew that the neglect of the practice of family worship had always greatly contributed to national decline….”