Father Hunger (Conference)

"Yet most I thank thee, not for any deed, But for the sense thy living self did breed That Fatherhood is at the world's great core." -George MacDonald

Christ Church Ministerial Conference - 2008

Father. What comes to mind? A friendly face, ready to protect and comfort? A name for someone who was never there? An enemy to be feared and avoided? So many of us, even the fathers of our flocks, are hungry. Hungry not particularly for answers or definitions or explanations, but simply for a relationship. A relationship with a father, with our Father.

Our world, our culture, and even our church suffers from father hunger. It manifests itself in countless ways--bitterness, insecurity, fear, anger, almost always in a self-repeating cycle. Young men pushed away by their fathers begin to eroticize male touch. Daughters, worn and broken in the search for love, turn to the banners of feminism. How can pastors become fathers to their congregations? How can they teach men to be fathers?

Here, four pastors and fathers proclaim the hope and wisdom of the Gospel, offering the Bread of Life in the midst of the current famine. Our response can be nothing but fully embodied—embraces and kisses for the broken, meals for the fearful, a bed for the weary, and comfort for the fatherless. Once without the Father ourselves, we are now called to be that father to our children, to our congregations, and to all of mankind.

Talks in this set:

1. Father Hunger -- Tim Bayly

2. God the Father and Trinitarian Living -- Douglas Jones

3. Idolatry and False Fatherhood -- Douglas Wilson

4. Absent Fatherhood -- Douglas Jones

5. Bride of Christ and Masculine Leadership -- Douglas Wilson

6. Pastoring Fathers -- Randy Booth

7. Collected Q&A Sessions