Loading...A nationally recognized specialist in adolescent development, Dr. Chap Clark, author of Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers and Disconnected: Parenting Teens in a MySpace World, will lead a free ParenTeen seminar Friday, March 19, at St. Francis in the Fields Episcopal Church in Harrods Creek.
The vice provost and professor of youth, family and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, Clark has specialized in studying how society affects adolescent development and family relationships and is the senior editor of Youthworker Journal. Clark is also known as co-author of the book Deep Justice and is a contributing writer for Sojourners and listed among several scholars and writers such as Diana Butler Bass, Tony Campola and Michael Battle identified as "Red-Letter Christians."
The ParenTeen seminar is being offered for parents and other caring adults as a way to draw generations together with the goal of making a difference in the life of a teen. During the seminar, Clark will give strategies to help parents develop a more authentic, effective relationship with their teen.
St. Francis in the Fields has a commitment to family ministry and offers ongoing educational opportunities for parents, but it also recognizes that it takes more than a mom and a dad to raise children and guide teens safely into adulthood.
With that in mind, the parish has partnered with Operation: PARENT, founded by Oldham County mom, Jean Schumm, to educate, equip and encourage parents. As the mother of five, Schumm immersed herself in all the material she could find about raising teens. By talking to guidance counselors and other parents she came away with the knowledge that she had to be aware of the issues surrounding her kids, she needed to be around other parents discussing these issues and she needed to assess her own behavior. She noted that as life becomes increasingly hectic marriages can become strained, and careers can become consuming. As a consequence, our teens may suffer.
All are encouraged to attend and bring a friend, whether you are a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, an uncle or any other caring adult, and begin the process of making a difference in the life of a teen.
Register online at www.stfrancisinthefields.org. Click on the link “Adults” and then “Parent2Parent.” There you will find the ParenTeen link. Or contact Cheryl Brandreth in the parish office at 228-1176 or cherylb@stfrancisinthefields.org
