Ready or not, here they come — stepfamilies and single-parent families. These families represent the most significant cultural change in your church today. They are now your business. They are a critical concern in your ministry. These systems have impacted just about everyone you know, possibly even your family.

The issues these families experience are enormous. In this article I speak to some of the more serious issues and offer solutions. You will learn things you may not have known, and I will present biblical applications. But with this article comes a challenge. Are you ready for some reorientation?

You know the statistics: Half of all adults today are single, single-again, or single parents. The other half are married, and half of those married are in stepfamilies. Divorce statistics suggest that about 43 percent of first marriages and over 60 percent of stepfamilies fail. Given the fact stepfamilies have such a high turnover, second, third, and even fourth marriages are ever more frequent. Regardless of the reasons, single parents and stepfamilies are gaining statistical ground.

Why will working with stepfamilies and single parents become a predominant ministry in your church? When you reach into your community, you get what is there — and a growing part is single parents and stepfamilies.

The Head of the Church said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:1,2, KJV). Few more closely fit the bill of being brokenhearted and continually bruised as single parents and members of stepfamilies.

So, let us meet a couple visiting your church. This story is true, except for names and locations.  Continue reading...

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Help Is Here for Single Parents and Stepfamilies!

Welcome to the Institute for Family Research and Education's website for stepfamilies and single parents. We have a number of resources available to help you succeed in your family relationships. We can help whether you are a newly dating single parent, in a serious relationship, a new stepfamily, or a veteran stepfamily. Don't just take our word for it, read what others are saying about our products and seminars:

"In 14 years as a single parent, I have read it all and heard it all. There is nothing that exists today that is dealing with the complexities of this dynamic environment as what I experienced in Dr. Partridge's conference. Finally, a fresh new approach that truly understands these issues." - P. Walker, Elder at Community Presbyterian Church - Danville, CA

"Dr. Partridge is the expert we need in our churches to deal with the complexities of single parenting/blending families. His teaching and programs are invaluable."
Don Reed, Executive Minister - Northern California Baptist Conferences

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