I need your help!  I don’t often use this vehicle for personal reasons, but today I am making an exception.  I am making an exception because I believe it is of critical and urgent importance to our churches and to our children’s ministries.  As you read the article below, you will learn about the wide path of devastation that divorce leaves in the lives of our children.  You will read about the impact that this has on kids.  I believe with all my heart that we, as the church, are called to fill the void left in a child’s life when their parents’ divorce.  In order to do this better, I am currently conducting a short, confidential, online survey of people whose parents divorced before they reached the age of 18.  You can find that survey (which asks 8 simple questions) at http://www.Kidmin1124.com/divorce/.

The goal of this survey is to help those of us who work with children to recognize the needs of children of divorce and serve them better.  If you fall within the group targeted by the survey, please click on the link above and take 5 minutes or so to help us to positively impact kids who are currently going through the divorce of their parents.  If you know of someone who fits the criteria, please forward the link to them as well.  The more people we can get to fill out the survey, the better the results will be.

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Here at Kidmin1124, we have focused some of our efforts on the issue of ministering to children of divorce.  Over 1,000,000 children per year have experienced the divorce of their parents every year in this country since 1972.  The grief and emotional turmoil experienced by these kids is unique, and we as children’s ministers must be prepared to address the needs of these children. At Kidmin1124, we are committed to equipping those who work with kids to minister to these kids.

Upcoming Radio Shows

We have a very special radio show coming up one week from today, on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 9:00 PM EST to continue the discussion on ministering to children of divorce.

We are pleased to announce that Linda Jacobs will be a guest on this show. Linda wrote the curriculum behind Divorce Care for Kids and has many years of experience working with children from divorced homes. Also on the show will be Evon Flesberg. Evon wrote the groundbreaking book called “The Switching Hour.” The Switching Hour takes you inside the heads and hearts of children of divorce who switch back and forth between the homes of their divorced parents. We will hopefully have at least one more, as yet unconfirmed guest. Come learn from the experts how you can better minister to this very prevalent but often invisible group of kids. Make sure to mark your calendar. You can find the show here: Kidmin Volunteer – Minstering to Children of Divorce 3.

Divorce Survey

If you are over the age of 18 and your parents divorced before you turned 18, you can help us to better serve children who are currently going through the divorce of their parents.  We have set up a short, anonymous, online survey for children of divorce.  In 8 questions, we ask about how you reacted to your parents’ divorce and the best ways to minister to children currently going through a divorce based on your experiences.  There is no substitute for first hand knowledge, and we appreciate you helping us to help today’s children of divorce.  You can find the survey at http://www.kidmin1124.com/divorce/.

If you know of people who could help us out, please feel free to pass the survey along, tweet about it, post it on facebook, or otherwise promote the survey.  The more respondents we can get, the better able we will be to fashion the information into something that can be of benefit to the whole kidmin community.

Leading With Love

After our first radio show on this issue, I started a group on CMConnect to discuss the issue of ministering to children of divorce.  The group is called Leading With Love.  Hop on over and join the group.  We are blessed to have some experts in this field as part of the group to answer any questions you might have.

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Here on Kidmin1124 we have been talking about helping kids cope with divorce. One of the ways that we can start a dialog with our children is through reading. I wanted to share a list of books for kids about divorce that you can pass on to the families you serve each week that are going through this difficult time and may be having trouble talking with their kids about it.

• Was It the Chocolate Pudding?: A Story For Little Kids About Divorce by Sandra Levins
• Where am I Sleeping Tonight? (A Story of Divorce) by Carol Gordon Ekster
• What in the World Do You Do When Your Parents Divorce? A Survival Guide for Kids by Kent Winchester J.D.
• Dinosaurs Divorce by Marc Brown
• Divorce Is Not the End of the World: Zoe’s and Evan’s Coping Guide for Kids by Zoe and Evan Stern
• With My Mom, With My Dad: A Book About Divorce by Maribeth Boelts
• Please Come Home: A Child’s Book about Divorce (Hurts of Childhood Series) by Doris Sanford

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Last Thursday, we dedicated the entire hour of our bi-weekly Kidmin Volunteer Radio show to talking about ministering to children of divorce (you can listen to an archive of the show by clicking on the link).  I was joined on the panel by fellow writers from Kidmin1124 including Wendy Douglas, Jared Massey and Bill Gunter.  Despite spending 60 minutes on the topic, we barely scratched the surface of the issue.  So, next Thursday, April 21 from 9:00 – 10:00 PM EST, our panel is getting back together to continue this important discussion.  In anticipation of that, I thought it made sense to summarize our discussion from the prior show.  Below I have included the questions as well as paraphrased answers from each of our guests.  I hope that you will take the time to read it, add your input in the comments section below, and tune in a week from today to continue the conversation.

I have abbreviated names of panelists as follows: (more…)