Help for Stepfamilies

The dead-tree edition of the Rapid City Journal had an article yesterday on an upcoming seminar to help stepfamilies.

No serious Christian would sanction divorce, but the reality is the divorce rate in our culture is high, and it is also very high within the church. While there is a very small number of reasons where divorce is biblically permissible, most reasons are not. Sometimes, too, that decision is taken out of the hands of one spouse by the actions of the other.

Still, none of us are without sin, so no matter what the reason for divorce and remarriage, this seminar is intended to give support, resources and real help to families that are struggling with the challenges of being "blended."

From the article:

“Too often there is a huge barrier of spiritual shame that people feel about failure at a marriage, or they feel judged by a church for choices they or somebody else made that has affected their life,” he said.

“I tell churches that we can be pro-hospital without being pro-illness,” Deal explained, noting that many churches conduct divorce-recovery and post-abortion ministries while opposing divorce and abortion. “We can have a stepfamily ministry and not feel like we're lowering God's standard for marriage.”

Or, as Deal likes to say, “God loves and forgives imperfect people in stepfamilies, just like he loves and forgives imperfect people in biological families.”

The seminar is for stepfamily members, and also for single parents, extended family members, and those who minister to stepfamilies.

The seminar is on May 18 and 19, and you can get more information here.