Single Parent Family
SINGLE PARENT FAMILY MINISTRY
Today the divorce rate is at an all-time high and there are more children now than ever before who are being raised by only one parent. Statistics show that nearly twelve million households (17% of all American households) are caught in this trap known as Single-Parent Families. Everyday mothers and fathers throughout this city and this country struggle to raise children alone. The emotional, mental, physical and financial pressure is tremendous. What can you do? Who do you turn to for help?
Information on the Single Parent Family Class
Three key concepts in raising a child as a single parent from an article in CHILD Magazine, entitled Solo Parenting:
A STABLE HOME
“As any parent with a clingy toddler knows, what kids want most is to feel safe. For a child who has lost a parent or is old enough to realize that one is less of a shield than two, that need may be stronger. “The first thing a child needs is stability,” says Richard Bromfield, Ph.D. “The key ingredient is dependability, through your presence and love.”
WHO’S THE BOSS?
Children also feel secure when they’re given limits. “But if discipline is a problem for most families, it’s even harder for single parents,” says Dr. Bromfield. Studies by Sara McLanahan, Ph.D., director of the Center for Research on Child Well-Being at Princeton University in New Jersey, for example, have found that single mothers don’t monitor their children’s behavior as closely as married ones, a difference she says is due mostly to limited resources or lack of time.
WE ARE FAMILY
As single parents try to meet their children’s needs, the biggest advantage they may have is changing public attitudes – and the help that often springs up as a result. The better the support network, the better the job the parent does, research indicates, and the better the kids fare in such measures as academic performance. Kids of single parents need other adults for many reasons: to literally show that they will not be left alone if you’re sick, or worse, and to model different varieties of adult – and gender – behavior.”
Solo Parenting
CHILD Magazine Jan. 2003
Don’t face this alone! The Prestoncrest Church of Christ is here to help. In her book, The Hidden Mission Field, Theresa McKenna writes that one of the largest untapped mission fields in the world today are single parent families. Our goal is to be that network that single parents need to survive. We want to uplift, encourage and equip you with the tools you need to face the often-difficult battles before you.
The men and women that make up the single-parent family ministry are a group of believers connected by the common bond of being a single parent, but they are also connected by the eternal bond of being brothers and sisters in Christ.
“This group is so special to me, they were there for me when everything else in my life was going wrong.” Prestoncrest single parent
For more information about our Single Parent Family Ministry here at Prestoncrest please contact Matt Mazza at (972) 233-2392.