Utilizing the research methods for which she is well known, Diana Garland here guides congregational leaders and counselors to encourage families to engage together in the Christian practice of service. The fruit of family service, she writes, is not only a deeper understanding of one another and of what God is doing in the world but also the reordering of a family's values and time together. It is this communal service, she demonstrates, that will develop in children and adolescents a resilient faith that will carry them into adulthood - and, ultimately, prove essential to maintaining a vigorous, resilient faith in congregational life.

Inside Out Families features stories of actual, ordinary families, and draws on findings from the Church Census Project and the Families and Faith Project, both funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc.