Quote of the Month

For he who has health has hope; and
he who has hope, has everything

Owen Arthur, Prime minister of Barbados

The Art of Fathering

Read about one Christian father’s walk.

The Christian Father

What is a father’s great task?
To bring himself and his family to God.
That task requires self-discipline, wisdom, patience,
strength and understanding.

Small minds and hearts of children are not easy to guide;
adolescent minds and hearts are bewildered and battered at times;
the minds and hearts of young adults are often lost
or too embarrassed to seek guidance.

For them a father is a steady example
of perseverance and good,
a beacon for wondering and wandering minds.

How could a father’s task be done
unless he remembered his children were created
by a loving, wise and merciful God
who is with his children – and with him?

 

Text provided by Victor Hoagland, C.P.

Celebrate Fathers

June is a very special month to celebrate fathers.  While we tend to make a very big deal about Mother’s day, sometimes Father’s day gets overlooked. So I have decided to dedicate the month of June to talk about fathering.

I am very blessed to have grown up in a two parent household with a very supportive and loving mother AND father. I can remember my dad coming to the school to give me medicine, driving me all over the city to programs and events, being there when people made me angry, giving me flowers every Valentine’s day, encouraging me to try out for sports (even though we both knew I wasn’t that good) and all the time loving me.

Unfortunately, there are many who don’t grow up with the same experiences and the absence of a father can cause problems beyond the individual scope. According the the Ad Council, “More than 79% of Americans feel “the most significant family or social problem facing America is the physical absence of the father from the home.”  Thus the absence of a father becomes a public health problem and has been shown to correlate with substance abuse, emotional problems, and crime rates.

As the rate of single parent homes is continuing to rise, skewed more to mother-only households, a call to action can be made in our faith communities:  

• Offer parenting classes. Teach men how to be fathers. Give them the support they need to learn what it means to be a dad. Click here for more ideas of resources.
• If there are children in your congregation without fathers in the home, provide mentors for them. Teach them and support them as you would your own child.
• Get fathers more involved in their children’s life. Watch the commercials from the Ad Council’s campaign on fathering.