Family Life and Men's Ministries Report 2016–2020

Fast Facts:

• Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention​ shows one in five Americans was sexually molested as a child; one in four was beaten by a parent to the point that a mark was left on their body; one in three couples engage in physical violence; a quarter of Americans grew up with alcoholic relatives; one of eight witnessed their mother being beaten or hit.
• Parents exhibiting emotionally-healthy spiritual lives are more successful at raising mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy children who will remain rooted in Christ when they transition into adulthood and begin their own families.
• Empowering parents to become mission-focused disciples will change the way they live out their marriages and the way they parent and disciple their own children.

Accomplishments:

• Family evangelism — Christ on Display seminars have been presented around the NPUC to train and empower parents to intentionally disciple their children into a transformational relationship with Jesus.
• Men’s Ministry Leaders Training — the first NPUC Men’s Ministry Leaders Training Weekend has been scheduled to empower men from the ages of 18–99 to better reflect Christ in their roles as sons, husbands, fathers and grandfathers. 
• Resources, support and empowerment have been provided to Conference Family Life Ministry Directors.
• Funding was provided for mission-focused family evangelism meetings offered to the community .
• Marriage Festival Weekend, an NPUC mission-focused event in Portland with the goal of strengthening families, was attended by 220 couples.
• Coaching and mentoring to ministry couples and families — when emotionally broken spiritual leaders (professional and lay) seek emotional and spiritual healing, they are better prepared to effectively disciple their own family, their church and the families in their community.

Opportunities:

• Appoint mission-focused, family life and men’s ministry leaders in all six NPUC conferences.
• Provide on-demand training and resources to our conference family life and men’s leaders.
• Reach those experiencing hurt and oppression. Increasing social turmoil is causing higher levels of stress and trauma in families. Children and teens are absorbing the stress and experiencing increasing rates of anxiety, loneliness, depression, suicide and addictive behaviors. These realities must be addressed more openly and more frequently in our spiritual communities, so we can provide the hope and healing found in the center of the Good News Jesus lived and preached.