Heart and Soul Community church used the Familias Unidas Grant to host a Family Festival for their congregation.
Faith is Inherited, Lived, and Transformed in Community
We accompany Hispanic families and communities to help them learn to convey their faith in a practical, close, and relevant way.
Familias Unidas
Familias Unidas is an initiative of Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan University, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., which equips Hispanic leaders and families with practical tools for intergenerational discipleship.
We believe that evangelism to new generations begins with a united community. Therefore, Familias Unidas transforms the challenge of spiritual formation into an opportunity for churches, leaders, and parents to walk together, offering practical tools that respond to our cultural reality today.
Through the Familias Unidas Grant, we developed the Certification in Spiritual Formation of Children and Youth, a program designed to help pastors and ministry leaders support the spiritual growth and formation of young people in their congregation.
Learn more about our Certification in Spiritual Formation of Children and Youth.
Faith is Not Transmitted Automatically
The current pace of life, together with the constant impact of online culture, has transformed the way children and youth build their identity. In this context, spiritual formation is often fragmented between the home, the church, and the cultural environment.
As a result, many parents, leaders, and communities desire to provide faith formation, but they do not always have the tools, guidance, or adequate spaces to do so effectively.
Our Mission
At Familias Unidas, we walk alongside Hispanic families and churches so that faith in Jesus Christ is lived out and passed down from generation to generation.
We recognize that the true wealth for spiritual formation is found in Jesus, who transforms lives and gives meaning to our faith. From that foundation, we accompany Hispanic families in their context, affirming their values, traditions, and stories as spaces where that faith is lived and transmitted.
Our mission is to walk with you through this process, equipping you with the skills to become a leader in the spiritual development of your family, your church, and your community.
We Support You
Pastors and Leaders
Strengthen the long-term vision of your congregation.
Teachers and Volunteers
Build your knowledge base of pedagogical and spiritual tools.
Parents and Caregivers
Empower yourself as the main spiritual guide in your home.
Certification in Spiritual Formation of Children and Youth
This unaccredited program is focused on strengthening spiritual formation from the home to the church. This certificate will guide you through a process of personal and ministerial growth that integrates theology, practice, and cultural context.
Contextualized Formation
Develop a theological understanding that engages with the contextual reality, culture, and experience of the Hispanic community.
Ministerial Skills
Acquire practical strategies to effectively connect with children, youth, and families in their daily lives.
Academic Credit
Gain the potential of earning up to 6 academic credits valid at Northeastern Seminary (subject to institutional evaluation and approval).
Partner Churches
Overflow Christian Ministries
Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal
Heart and Soul Community Church
Missio Alliance
Heart and Soul Community Church
Meet Olivia from Heart and Soul Community Church
"I’m a graduate of Northeastern Seminary, and I was really excited to learn about the Familas Unilas initiative and how we at Heart and Soul can get involved. Our team has decided that we want to support our families at home and give them projects and activities to do together during the week—not just on Sundays."
- Pastor Olivia Lopez
Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal (IDDPMI)
Meet Raymond Zayas from IDDPMI
"As a church near downtown Rochester, we're located in one of the neighborhoods that is most hit by poverty and different mental issues and depression. So we're right there working hard with people that sometimes don't feel that God is near them. So the Lilly Grant Foundation allowed us to unite the families in a way that is not our normal programming."
- Raymond Zayas, Associate Pastor
Overflow Christian Ministries
Meet Angel Lebrón from Overflow Christian Ministries
"The one thing that we were looking for was how to connect all [our ministries] with the family and being able to connect the families and do more activities with the family. The Lilly Grant has allowed us to do that has supported our mission for us to unite the families by doing family workshops."
- Pastor Angel Lebrón
Links for Additional Resources