Training and resources
Three courses. Thirty-plus sessions. Nothing to buy.
Developed with Parents Arise for churches, families and organizations — to educate, equip and support the adults already closest to the children.
In every session
A presentation
Ready to show. No preparation beyond reading it through once.
In every session
A leader’s guide
Written so an ordinary volunteer can lead the hour, not only a pastor.
In every session
Written material
For people who want the argument in full, and for those teaching it again.
In every session
A questionnaire
Handed out for the following week, so the group arrives having already thought.
Course 1 · Twelve sessions
Recognize the calling you already have.
To train parents and grandparents to see their challenging calling as ministers in their own family — and to realize they are competing with people who want access to their offspring.
One
Introduction to Course 1
How much the ministries of parents and grandparents matter to society and to the church, and why so little emphasis is placed on them. Family leaders no longer hold the influence they once did, and young people are more exposed because of it.
Two
Wolves
The competition parents and grandparents face. Other people target their offspring the way wolves target prey. The varied dangers are named here so that family leaders can take the threat seriously.
Three
Sheep
The wise skills God has provided, so a young person can avoid being entrapped, addicted, harmed or broken down.
Four
Shepherds
How much parents and grandparents matter in meeting a child’s many needs across the growing-up years — and the courage it takes to face the challenges honestly rather than around them.
Five
What is expected of a congregation
An invitation for a church to explore a new frontier: involving lay members fully in the life of the congregation. The early church eventually looked at what its members actually faced, and saw the need to train and equip them.
Six
What does God expect of parents and grandparents?
Clarifying the biblical teaching, identifying the passages that spell it out, and helping family leaders see what they could be doing as instruments that reach future generations.
Seven
The ministry of a wife and husband
What happens in the lives of children, and in the life of a congregation, rests on what is happening between husbands and wives. This session defines what a healthy marriage relationship involves.
Eight
Fathers
Christian fathers need to see how important they are, what they provide, and what they are up against. It is a frequently overlooked emphasis, and fathers make a large difference either way.
Nine
Mothers’ ministries
The particular work mothers carry, named and supported rather than assumed.
Ten
Children’s ministry
What children themselves are called to, within the household and beyond it.
Eleven
The ministry of grandparents
The distinct opening grandparents have — often more time, often more trust — and how to use it.
Twelve
Valuing a child
What it means, practically, to treat a child as someone of worth — and what changes in a home when that becomes visible.
Course 2 · In progress
Learn what your children are actually facing.
The dangers and treacheries young people meet in this modern time. Four sessions are published so far; more are being written.
One
Prepare
What preparation means, and why it is a different task from protection.
Two
Our identity in Christ
The ground a young person stands on when someone offers them a more flattering identity.
Three
Growing up into one’s identity in Christ
How that identity is grown into over years, rather than announced once.
Four
The value of contentment — the problem
Discontent is the opening most schemes are built on. This session names how that works.
Course 3
Teach the wise skills that keep them free.
To discover the wise skills God has provided, so that offspring can be equipped to avoid being entrapped, addicted, harmed or broken down.
This is the same ground the six parenting skills cover, taught for the whole household. If you are looking for the fastest way into the curriculum, start there.
Running this in a congregation?
Most churches use the material as an adult forum, a small group, or a midweek series. You do not need a trained facilitator, a budget, or a minimum group size — four people around a table is a real start.
Contact us and we will talk through what fits your congregation, and can come and present in person.
Also part of the curriculum
Videos and books
Five training videos carry testimony from former traffickers, a former pornography seller, a former strip-club manager and survivors. Two books give family leaders ten challenges and ten actions to work through at their own pace.
“Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching.”Proverbs 1:8