Vol. 1, No. 3
September 1998

Ministry

Build comprehensive family ministries - The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Convention, meeting July 11-17, asked congregations to build comprehensive ministry to families that: * speaks for children * recognizes different life stages of families * teaches and models Biblical values * helps keep Christ as the center of the home * models family-supportive policies for professional workers * ministers to families where some members may be unchurched or non-Christian * offers help to families in the community. www.lcms.org/news.

2001: Year of the Child - The year 2001 has been dedicated as "The Year of the Child" in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. LCMS Convention asked congregations to intentionally include children . . . in congregational celebrations and congregational life. It also asked congregations to make ministry with children a priority. 

Barriers to working with families-

Search Institute, Minneapolis, cites five attitudes that block a congregation's work with families: * No one shows up * Parents only ask for help in a crisis * Kids don't want their parents around * It's someone else's job * Parents aren't active in the congregation. Leaders should watch for those excuses that tend to block a congregations partnership with families in building assets in youngsters. Building Assets in Congregations, Search Institute.

LCMS department staffed - Rev. Jeffery Schubert is the new director of the Department of Family Ministry for The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. His department is part of Congregational Services. He will train district teams, network district leaders, provide family resources, and focus on unchurched and inactive family members. Schubert was on the staff of the Synod's South Wisconsin District. He will work closely with Lutheran Family Association, an LCMS Recognized Service Organization. Contact: jeffery.schubert@lcms.org or (800) 248-1930, Ext. 1716.

Quotes

Debunking a statistic - "Ever hear that 50 percent of U.S. marriages are headed for divorce? It all started one year when somebody at the Census Bureau noticed that there had been 2.4 million marriages and 1.2 million divorces. Comparing those two figures without taking into account the 54 million marriages already in existence gave birth to a quotable, but highly inaccurate, statistic. The fact is only about 2 percent of existing marriages will fail, and in any given year only one out of eight married couples divorce. As pollster Louis Harris says,' The idea that half of American marriages are doomed is one of the most specious pieces of statistical nonsense ever perpetuated in modern times.'" From Leadership, Summer 1996, quoted in Current Thoughts & Trends, Oct. 1996.

Learned skills - "Skills in parenting, in being family, and in being a couple are learned skills. A strong spiritual foundation for marriage and family is not given at baptism; it must be learned. The church plays significant role in the life and faith of the church's families, but it can be significantly bad or good depending on its structure and programming." Ben Freudenburg, Concordia Lutheran, Kirkwood, Mo.

Sources

S.O.S, by Audrey Duensing, is an easily-used resource for children and their families that outlines service activities for every month of the year. Service Over Self has delightful illustration and creative organization. It includes a section to sup-port adults in their nurturing role and kids as meaningful contributors. The author is member of Cross View Lutheran Church, a family friendly congregation in Edina, Minn. LCMS Department of Child Ministry, (800) 248-1930, Ext. 1289.

Place the filter of God's grace over the processes of marriage and parenting in order to foster healthy relationships between husband and wife and between parents and children. That's the premise of Families Where Grace is in Place by Jeff Vonderen. Bethany House, 1992.

Perspectives

Fewer kids per family - The percent of households with children under 18 declined from 50.1 percent in 1967 to 35.7 per-cent in 1997. Households with children under 18 and headed by single mother rose from 5.3 per-cent to 11.2 percent during same period. Households with children under 18 headed by a single father rose from 0.7 percent in 1967 to 2.4 percent in 1997. USA Today, Aug. 10, 1998.

Children need the 3 Rs - Ritual, repetition and relationships, according to Judy Christian, LCMS director of child ministry. Ritual, or predictability, is a sense of sameness that builds trust in events. Repetition helps them explore and learn. Relation-ships with adults helps build understanding of the context and build their trust in people.

TV doesn't reflect family life - As if we already didn't know, it's substantiated by an analysis of two weeks of prime-time programs and movies on six networks. Study showed characters seldom dealt with job vs. family, and, when they did, it was resolved all too easily. Child care is a concern of 15 percent of TV adults (while 32 percent of U.S. population must deal with it). A tiny number of adults have elder-care responsibilities (compared to 25 percent of US. population). National Partnership for Women & Families, www.nationalpartnership.org.

40 pornographic web sites a day - Focus on the Family says that many go "on line" every day. About 72,000 already are on the 'Net. Plugged In, Feb. 15, 1998. 

U.S. kids watch three years of TV - Report in AMA Journal says kids watch 15,000 to 18,000 hours of TV between ages 2 and 17 (about three years of their waking lives). Wellness Letter, July 1998, University of California, Berkeley.

Connections

Marriage Mentor Couples are important in the of the Strategic Family Ministry Mentoring Program at Christ Lutheran, Lenexa, Kans. Church asks couples married 10 or more years to work with engaged couples and follow up at three-month intervals during first year of marriage. Info: (913) 492-7752 or revmeyers@aol.com.

Healthy Congregations/Healthy Families - "Building the Support Structure for Family Relationships" is a one-day seminar to help congregations start or expand family ministries. The seminars will be at 27 U.S. locations starting this fall, hosted and led by LCMS congregations with active family ministries. It's sponsored by Lutheran Family Association, Lutheran Brotherhood and LCMS Family Ministry. More will be offered in 1999. Info: (800) 248-1930, Ext. 1264. 

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