Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Text Size
The Mission of Fellowship of Fathers
Fatherhood: the most important job a man will ever have... by far. It's not a sprint, it's the journey of a lifetime. But it's the greatest journey a man can take, because on it we will discover the men we were always meant to be.
1To return fatherhood to its central position of respect and importance in our society. Read about respect for fathers in our communities and families.
2To equip men emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually to be the best husbands and fathers they can be... and to help them have fun doing it. Begin your journey here.
3By this, to reverse the rising tide of social ills that plague our land: emotional illness, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, adult illiteracy, and long-term poverty.
Video Guides
Fellowship of Fathers Vision
The Importance of Fathers in Families
Fatherhood Today: 80M Dads Report Needing Help
- Today there are approx 100M men in the US and Canada who are fathers or will be fathers in the next 5 years.
- Over 80% of US dads feel they need help on Fatherhood issues; 75% of those do not know where to get quality fatherhood help.
- There are dozens of fine US organizations (mostly very small non-profits) working in this area today, but most are local (such as churches) or policy based (such as the National Fatherhood Initiative).
- None, by themselves, is big enough or connected enough to 'move the cultural needle' on fatherhood - or even get close - in the face of the cultural forces pushing in the other direction.
- There is no over-arching cooperative strategy that might allow these organizations to multiply their impact through coordinated action.
Respect for Fatherhood in our Culture
- Respect for Fatherhood and the percentage of men who are actively involved Dads has declined steadily in the US over the past 50 years.
- Our society now constantly celebrates the rich, the powerful, the famous and the infamous... but never good fathers.
- Much of popular media minimizes or actively puts down Fatherhood (for example, the preponderance of “Doofus Dads” on TV these days).
- The importance of fathers, even the need for fathers, is now openly called into question in certain American sub-cultures.
- As a direct result, many men now choose to skip fatherhood altogether, either by not marrying, not having kids or not parenting their kids.
- As a direct result of that, over half of the American children born today will live some or most of their lives as minors without their fathers.
- As a direct result of that, America is quickly becoming a two tier society, with over 1/3 of our children consigned to almost 3rd world status in terms of mental and physical health, academic attainment, and income.
The Social Decline of Strong Parenting
- 41% of US births in 2010 were out of wedlock (In 1940 that number was 3.8%).
- The percentage of children born to unmarried moms has more than doubled for each major racial group since 1960. Over 70% of African American kids will be born out of wedlock this year.
- Children born out of wedlock in the US are two to three times more likely:
- To be convicted of a felony
- To suffer from severe emotional illness
- To have children out of wedlock
- To fail to graduate from High School
- To ever hold down a long-term job
- To live in poverty
- To die a violent death
- To be functionally illiterate
- The list goes on and on...
The Need 200 Years Ago…and Today
- 200 years ago William Wilberforce brought together a wide variety of small, underfunded, primarily (but not exclusively) Christian organizations into an effective anti-slavery partnership that ended the British Slave Trade.
- Today, such a partnership is needed to restore respect for Fatherhood, decrease the number of absentee fathers and improve the overall quality of fathering throughout our society.