New facebook group
Exciting times.
Is it doable sure. is it far fetched? no not at all. Things happen when you get a bunch of fathers together.
I am really looking forward to working more with the fathers of headstart.
NyQuil, DayQuil Recognizes Dads Don’t Take Sick Days Either
I’ve had this new NyQuil ad mentioned to me a few times recently, and finally managed to track it down. It’s short and basic, but I love it and really wanted to share it with you all.
Vick’s is a Proctor & Gamble company, and we all remember some issues fathers have had with them in the past regarding their omission of dads from the parenting picture. Additionally, Vicks NyQuil has had a campaign about “Moms can’t take sick days” which has gotten some flack for leaving out dads. So it’s great to see some follow-through on their promises that they had some about dads in store as well.
Really nicely done!
A version of this post first appeared on The Daddy Doctrines.
This is one of the best videos I have seen. All I can say is give 18 minutes today and listen to it. It will help you to appreciate what God did when He sent Jesus to die.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Single Adult Ministry Survey
Reposted from Church of the Nazarene.
The Single Adult Ministry Survey was conducted for SDMI by the Research Center in the winter of 2009-2010. Single adults were defined as those at least 30 years of age and currently without a spouse.
A random sample of 800 churches was invited by e-mail to participate in the study. The survey used an online web form to be completed by someone in the church with knowledge of the single adults in that church. By March 1, 2010, responses had been received from 141 (18%).
Observations:
1) Churches of all sizes have single adults. The number of single adults increases as church size increases, and so does the mixture of those never married, divorced, and widowed. Smaller churches are less likely to have never-married singles or widows/widowers. Single adults who are divorced are present in churches of all sizes.
2) Only one-third of congregations responding to the survey agreed to the statement, “Our church effectively disciples single adults.” Churches under 50 in attendance were much more likely to agree with the statement (62%). Churches with 250 or more in attendance were much more likely to disagree with the statement (68%). However, large majorities of churches in all sizes agree that, “Our church’s ministry to single adults needs improvement (86% overall).
3) Only 20% of churches responding to the survey agreed to the statement, “Our church has a ministry plan for ministry to single adults.” Churches with 250 or more were slightly more likely to agree with this statement (31%). Developing a ministry plan may be difficult because of the diversity in which single adults find themselves (divorced vs. never married vs. widowed vs. parent vs. young vs. old).
4) Sixty-three percent of churches responding to the survey said, “Our church does not offer specific programs or ministries for single adults.” Seventy to eighty percent of churches with less than 100 in attendance do not offer specific programs or ministries for single adults. However, only 23% of churches with 250 or more did not offer any specific programs or ministries. Grief Recovery programs are offered by42% of large churches; 23% offer a Divorce Recovery program; and 39% of large churches offer Sunday School or small groups specifically for single adults.
5) Although most churches do not offer specific programs or ministries for single adults, large majorities of churches in all sizes agree that, “Single adults and married adults mix well in our church.” Majorities of churches in all size categories report having single adults serving on the church board.
Suggestions for Churches:
1. Become single adult sensitive. Listen to announcements, lessons, sermons, etc. with the perspective of the single adult in mind. In your presentations, written or oral, does “man” equal “husband” or “woman” mean “wife”? In other words will single adults feel included?
2. Recognize singleness as a viable lifestyle. It is possible to affirm single adults and their singleness without undermining family ministries. Some single adults are unmarried due to Christian dating standards. Others have experienced the death of a spouse. Some are single as the result of the decisions of others.
3. Realize single adults are part of the population. As baby-boomers continue to age and some experience the death of a spouse, there will be more single senior adults.
4. Build a relationship with a single adult. Do you know what his or her goals, hopes, and dreams are? Walking with a person provides valuable insights into the issues and challenges he or she faces.
5. Realize that some single adults had reached a place of contentment with their singleness. This does not mean they have closed the doors to future relationships. Rather, it means they have learned to be content at this stage of life.
6. Be aware of events that create stress. These events will vary with each single adult. However, here are some trigger-events:
• Loss or threatened loss of employment
• Parenting challenges—parenting was designed as a two-person responsibility. Single-parents may need assistance in providing role models and mentors for their children.
• Death of a parent. This is especially difficult for never-married adults. These individuals have lost a major identity and some report feeling like an orphan.
• Death of a friend. Friends for many single adults become like family. Therefore, the death of a friend is traumatic.
7. Remember we are all part of the Body of Christ. When the Body of Christ functions at its best, there is a role for every person, regardless of their marital status.
Statistics
71% of all high school drop outs, 75% of adolescents in substance abuse treatment centers, 85% of youths in prison, and 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes (www.thefatherlessgeneration.wordpress.com)
Fatherlessness costs America approximately $100 BILLION dollars per year (fatherhood.gov)
When fathers are involved in the lives of their children, especially their education, their children learn more, perform better in school, and exhibit healthier behavior. Even when fathers do not share a home with their children, their active involvement can have a lasting and positive impact. There are countless ways to be involved in your child’s education at all ages. (fatherhood.gov)
Research shows that even very young children who have experienced high father involvement show an increase in curiosity and in problem solving capacity. Fathers’ involvement seems to encourage children’s exploration of the world around them and confidence in their ability to solve problems… Highly involved fathers also contribute to increased mental dexterity in children, increased empathy, less stereotyped sex role beliefs and greater self-control. (fatherhood.gov)
When non-custodial fathers are highly involved with their children’s learning, the children are more likely to get A's at all grade levels. (fatherhood.gov)
71% of all high school drop outs, 75% of adolescents in substance abuse treatment centers, 85% of youths in prison, and 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes (www.thefatherlessgeneration.wordpress.com)
Fatherlessness costs America approximately $100 BILLION dollars per year (fatherhood.gov)
When fathers are involved in the lives of their children, especially their education, their children learn more, perform better in school, and exhibit healthier behavior. Even when fathers do not share a home with their children, their active involvement can have a lasting and positive impact. There are countless ways to be involved in your child’s education at all ages. (fatherhood.gov)
Research shows that even very young children who have experienced high father involvement show an increase in curiosity and in problem solving capacity. Fathers’ involvement seems to encourage children’s exploration of the world around them and confidence in their ability to solve problems… Highly involved fathers also contribute to increased mental dexterity in children, increased empathy, less stereotyped sex role beliefs and greater self-control. (fatherhood.gov)
When non-custodial fathers are highly involved with their children’s learning, the children are more likely to get A's at all grade levels. (fatherhood.gov)
Welcome to Father 2 Father - Greater Purpose
A Father 2 Father is a local ministry located in the beautiful Grants Pass Oregon. We exist because of our commitment to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we believe that its important to do follow His example and make disciples. Being a single father myself I understand the demands for our attention by our children and outside forces. We also know that it doesn't get easier having to deal with our children's mother. You don't have to do things alone and you shouldn't have to.
Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
We truly believe that one person can sharpen another. And that is the basis of this ministry to sharpen each other. Experiences that one has gone through might be just what another single father is going through and how you made it through it might help them out. In our meetings we do not condemn anyone for being divorced, or even unmarried and have a child. You might even be dating someone or even remarried. But the facts remain your not with your child's mother and because of this that makes you a single father.
Please let me share what makes me a qualified candidate to run A Father's Commission – a single father's Ministry. I was married on September 23, 2008 just a mere 3 months before my son Aden was born. In fact he was born December 9th of the same year. That is when my marriage began to fail. The trust that I had in my wife began to be stretched as she would constantly accuse me of cheating on her. Which is something that I never did in the 5 years of our brief marriage. Turns out she was using that excuse of accusing me of cheating to try and cover up the fact that she was cheating on me. I knew the truth as she couldn't not lie good enough to hide it.
But I stayed as I felt that it was in our son's best interest that she was around. For 5 years we lived like that. Then we had the opportunity to move from Michigan to Oregon with family of mine and away from the guy that she was seeing on the side. I was trying everything possible to save my marriage with my son's mother. So we moved. Well that move lasted 4 months before she walked out on her son and I and moved back to Michigan a place I had no interest in going back to. That was just last year about this time. Then came April when I had been here a total of 6 months I was able to file for a divorce.
I filed and sent her the everything through the mail. You would thing that she would have responded to my petition seeing how I was going for full custody. I mean anyone would fight a divorce where they could potentially loose custody of their children am I right? I sent out the packet on May 1,2014 and she received it 4 days later and had 30 days to respond. Heck I even waited close to 40 days before submitting the paperwork for the default judgement. July 11th of last year my divorce was finalized. And to date my son still has only talked to her roughly 40 times. I ask him daily if he wants to talk to her and maybe once a week he will. I don't force him to talk to her but once a week to keep that communication link there.
He is perfectly content with it just being dad. And now that Dad is dating again he has bonded well with my girlfriend.
But I started to realize that when I started to look at the latest census data. "Since 1990, single fathers, male householders, no spouse present, increased 33 percent. Single men, nonfamily male householders, increased 18 percent. Single mothers, female household, no spouse present, increased 17 percent. People living alone increased 10 percent.
Since 1990, unmarried couples have increased by 700 percent. In 1970, there were 523,000 compared with today's more than 4.2 million (4,236,000). In 1970, 327,000 couples had no children under age 15. Today's that number is 2,716,000. In 1970, 196,000 couples had children under age 15. Compare that to 1,520,000 today.
Implications for ministry: With this increase in single fathers, ministry to single-parent families needs to become more inclusive and sensitive to the needs of single fathers. Traditionally, these ministries catered to single mothers. Including single fathers may require more than changes in wording we may need to determine the needs of single fathers and how we can assist them in this role.
Single adults continue to be the fastest growing of all populations groups. Based on the most recent data (1998) from the Census Bureau, here is information about the marital status in the United States of persons over 18 years of age."
Growth in single fathers outpaces growth in single mothers.
The number of single mothers has remained constant over the past three years (9.8 Million) while the number of single fathers in the United States has increased dramatically. In 1997, there were 2 million single fathers, more than 50 percent more than in 1990 and triple the number in 1980. Families headed by single fathers comprised 5 percent al all parent-child families in 1997. Men account for one-sixth of the nation's 11.9 million single parents.
In 1997, nearly half of the single fathers, 46 percent, were divorced, while 32 percent were never-married, 13 percent were separated, and about 5 percent each were widowed and separated due to reasons other than martial discord. In 1997, the majority of single fathers (61 percent) were rearing one child and 10 percent were rearing three or more.
I have found that there is roughly 400,000 churches nationwide and only about 1% of the churches or 4000 churches have a single fathers Ministry at the present time.
U.S. Adults by Marital Category
| Number | Percent |
Total Married | 117.8 million | 59.6% |
Married-spouse present | 110.6 million | 56% |
Married-spouse absent | 7.2 million | 3.6% |
Cohabiting (estimate) | 8.5 million | 4.3% |
Total unmarried | 79.5 million | 40.3% |
Never-married | 46.5 million | 23.5% |
Widowed | 13.5 million | 6.8% |
Currently divorced | 9.8 million | 9.8% |
Total Unammarried (ages 25-64) | ||
Ages 25-34 | 16.4 million | 8.3% |
Ages 35-44 | 13.1 million | 6.6% |
Ages 45-65 | 14.8 million | 7.5% |
Total single parents | 19.7 million | 9.9% |
Single mothers | 16.6 million | 8.4% |
Single Fathers | 3.1 million | 1.6% |
Children in Single Parents Homes | ||
Under 18 not currently living in a two-parent married household | 20 million | 28.0% |
Under 18 who have ever lived in a one-parent household (estimated) | 40 million | 56.0% |
Under 18 currently living with grandparents | 4 million | 6.0% |