How to Effectively Minister to Children Who Are Impacted by Divorce
How can we help kids radically altered by divorce, how can we help them come to grips with a new kind of family life, and how can we offer continuous support while their worlds sway around them for weeks, months, or years?
“One thing that we as a church can do,” says Gary Sprague, formerly with Kids Hope, “is to validate to these children that their families are still valued. For the parent, one is a whole number, and the single-parent family is still a complete family.”
Divorce impacts all children whose parents experience it—but in different ways and to different degrees. Much depends on the support available in making the transition from a two-parent family to two separate families. Our churches can be part of the restorative process if we better understand commonalities of the affected children and as we listen carefully to these families’ unique needs.
Kids’ Needs
Children of divorce experience grief in much the same way that survivors of any loss do. Rather than viewing the grief process as a linear progression, it’s helpful to imagine it as a spiral that includes denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, and forgiveness. These stages may present themselves over and over as a child enters different stages of maturity. For example, the anger in a preschool child may show up as increased crying and demand for attention, while in the early elementary years, it may resurface as behavior problems at school. Preschoolers may bargain by promising to “be good” if Mommy or Daddy will come home. Elementary-age children may devise elaborate schemes to bring their parents back together and make promises to God about what they’ll do if God will only answer their prayers for their parents to be together again.
Any stage of grieving that appears to have been resolved can be triggered again as life stages change. The third grader who seems to have reached a stage of forgiveness for Dad moving away may become intensely angry in fifth grade when Dad’s not there for a school play or soccer tournament. Or a preschooler who feels great about making a Father’s Day gift for Uncle John may become withdrawn and depressed as the second grade father-son overnight camp approaches and he realizes that no one else is bringing his uncle. Another change that often provokes a regression in the grief cycle occurs when a parent begins to date.
Creating Space to Grieve
These stages of grief are normal. Children need the freedom to talk about their feelings and thoughts. Give them guidance in how to make good and healthy decisions even when their feelings are spinning out of control. Just as kids experiencing the death of a parent often ask some profoundly spiritual questions, children experiencing divorce also have questions. Many kids wonder “Where is God when I’m hurting?” and “If God can do anything, why didn’t God stop this from happening?”
Support groups like DivorceCare for Kids can help children ponder these questions in a non-threatening environment while learning valuable life skills that may be missing. A small group opportunity for children in the process of divorce recovery is best offered at a time that doesn’t single out children from other ongoing ministries they might be involved in, such as Sunday school or midweek programs. Instead, make the opportunity available when other programs aren’t competing for kids’ attention.
Single-Parent Families’ Needs
While not all single-parent families are born from divorce, most single-parent families experience similar needs. As kids are trying to find their balance in this new world, parents are trying to cope with a laundry list of day-to-day issues. These issues fall into four main categories: children, vehicles, households, and finances.
Children
Instead of having an in-house partner to talk to about what the kids are or aren’t doing and how issues should be handled, single parents often have no one close enough to lend balance to their discipline challenges or give input to help stave off power struggles. In addition, the parent has increased child care needs and distinctly less “down time”—or none at all. In families with more than one child, it’s next to impossible to find one-on-one time with each child.
Successful support ministries recognize these needs and find ways to partner with single parents to meet these challenges. Some churches have established mentor programs in which another parent comes alongside the single parent in telephone support, babysitting on a regular basis, or taking one child home from church while the other child has a “date” with Mom or Dad. When these mentorships are provided by a two-parent family, children benefit from having the presence of male and female role models.
Vehicles
Transportation and vehicle maintenance are often ongoing issues in single-parent families—especially when headed by women. One church has addressed this problem through its men’s ministry, which hosts a car care day every month. During this event, men from the congregation perform routine auto maintenance, such as oil changes, for single parents. Sometimes these men help a single parent shop for a different vehicle, and they offer their expertise in getting the best value.
Households
Similar needs arise in dealing with home maintenance, and your church can mobilize people to be on call for emergency services. Because moves are sometimes necessary in the early days, keep a list of potential vehicles and people in your congregation that might be available for moving items.
Finances
Finally, money is nearly always an issue in single-parent homes. The standard of living for a single mother declines by an average of 45 percent after a divorce. In addition to offering tangible benevolent support such as food, clothing, and cash gifts, consider supplementing the cost of activities for children. If possible, make arrangements for partial scholarships to activities to help minimize the cost for single-parent families. Your church can also offer financial planning and counseling services to strengthen a family’s long-term financial well-being.
Do all these needs add up to a drain on church resources? Gary Sprague answers with a resounding no!
“The healing of brokenness leads to great contribution in the body,” Gary says. “One church I know did a study on the percentage of single-parent contributions in relation to their total income and discovered that [single parents’] giving was significantly higher than the giving among the rest of the congregation.”
In fact, one of the ways to validate a single-parent family is to help its members participate in the church with a full range of gifts and talents.
The Church’s Needs
“Many churches are family-oriented,” says Linda. “In the mind of the church, we mean to include everyone who attends. But in the mind of a single parent, the word ‘family’ alone can be isolating.”
Linda suggests that we make a conscious effort to use inclusive phrases such as “church family” instead of “family.” The idea that marriage and parenting are synonymous with family is a big mistake in today’s world. We need to offer opportunities for all kinds of families—two-parent, single-parent, non-parent (no children in the home), and other-parent (children live with people who aren’t their parents)—to come together as the redeemed community of Christ.
Single-Parent Issues
We also need to be aware of the subtle ways we portray families. If our church logos picture a mom, dad, and two kids, we may unintentionally alienate a whole group of people. To look at your church’s events through the eyes of a sensitive single parent, consider these issues:
- Do the event names welcome individuals and families of all kinds? It’s worth sacrificing cute titles, such as “Doughnuts With Dad,” for the sake of making everyone feel welcome.
- Are the images inclusive of all kinds of family configurations? Remember there are families of all kinds: two-parent, single-parent, non-parent, and other-parent.
- Are child care arrangements offered for all events that involve parents? This is especially a need for single parents.
- Have you considered how to make each event easier for single-parent families? For example, many single parents are better able to participate in midweek events if a meal is provided.
Your church can be a haven of peace and acceptance to families recovering from the crisis of divorce. Provide a place of consistency in the lives of children and parents as they begin their healing process. As you nurture and care for these new family units, being careful to address the specific needs of individual families, you’ll bear witness to the restoring power of God’s love.
Alternate-Weekend Kids
It may seem difficult to keep up with the needs of children who live in two families, so use these suggestions from veteran children’s workers.
- Design all forms to reflect the possibility of two parental addresses.
- Enter both parents’ addresses into your database under the child’s name.
- Send mail addressed to the child to both addresses.
- Assign all the children in-house mailboxes so you can put important papers and notices into the boxes. Children with non-weekly attendance can collect their things without missing out.
- Minimize projects or lessons that require cumulative participation. Instead, do lessons and projects that can be completed in one session.
- Avoid or limit emphasis on weekly attendance. If you have to keep track of attendance, don’t use charts or public displays that make a child’s attendance stand out. Avoid giving prizes for attendance.
- Be sensitive about inviting both parents to attend an event together if their relationship is hostile. However, make every attempt to involve both parents in the joy of spiritually leading their child or children.
- Present your event calendars to families as far in advance as you can so they can make visitation modifications if necessary.
- Invite grandparents on both sides of the family for extended family activities.
Lori Niles is an author and former instructor of children’s ministry at Nazarene Bible College.
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