Reading list

(Revised for Web Jan. 24, 2000)

My goal in this course is for students to explore resources that will help them better understand families in their congregations and respond, as ministers, to those needs. This is a big undertaking in a one-semester course, but come give it a try! The Family Handbook, (culmination of "The Religion, Culture, and the Family Project" funded by the Lilly Foundation through the late 90’s) will anchor the course, providing "theological, moral, legal, and historical insights on contemporary issues facing families." We will seek a faith-based understanding of the issues and draw on secular resources, as well, as we consider

• "what are families for, anyway?"

• how can we help couples prepare for marriage as the foundation of a healthy family?
• what do children need from their parents and how can we help them provide it?
• what do teenagers need from their parents and from adults in the church?

• how can we help when couples and families must cope with divorce, single-parenting, step-parenting and blending families?

• how can the church respond to families dealing with "the sandwich" phenomenon (adults "parenting" their aging parents even while trying to raise and launch their own children)?

Page Two of this description presents an explanation of the required reading. In an effort to make the material more manageable and yet cover the topics I regard as essential, I am handling several topics by breaking the class into two groups, some of whom will read one resource (or coupling of resources) and some will read another. In those instances, students will bear responsibility in class for presenting the material they’ve read to their classmates who didn’t read it; the material will then be compared for values we can glean from both. This will be true of marriage preparation/ marriage enrichment; divorce and shared parenting; remarriage and blended families.

The final project is still taking shape in my mind. It will involve elements of:

• remembering and sharing how "churches you have known" ministered to families
• Formulating our "faith goals" in ministering to families and discussing how the information we’ll have covered informs how we might approach these goals
• Formulating a Statement of Purpose/Vision Statement to guide our ministries to families

In all likelihood, the final project will require each student to take these class discussions, refine their ideas, and develop a proposed "comprehensive ministry to the family". I would probably call an optional gathering sometime after grades are due for students to share their papers/creative ideas with each other. I suppose we might even publish something based on what comes out of the class!