CCC Gainesville | Blog
What to Make of Children…and Their Parents
The Opus Project is offering a reading group this spring on “What to Make of Children…and Their Parents”. We will be discussing a series of essays and poems on the wonder and puzzlement of children as well as the role of parents (and others) in the process of raising them. The title – “What to Make of Children…” – invokes a double meaning on the verb make. In one sense we are asking how we are to make sense out of children: just what are we talking about when we talk about children? In another sense, we are asking how we are to think about and approach the process of making children into something – their formation into adulthood, citizenship, and whatever else we are supposed to do. And then, there’s the afterthought “…and Their Parents”, which has in view the reality and mystery that somehow as we embark on the pathway of child-raising, we the parents are also being made into something. What a puzzling and amazing thing.
The series will certainly be about parenting, but it will also be broader and deeper than that as we seek to build a framework to help us see children more clearly and understand our role better as we seek to honor God and his ways through our families. This series was inspired in part by the latest edition of The Hedgehog Review on “Parenting in America”. We will draw from this issue for two of our essays and from other sources for the rest. Also, we will try to team up some poems with the essays from time to time.
We will be meeting monthly on Sunday mornings during the 2nd hour (10:30am) on the church campus.
Reading Schedule (dates are subject to change)
January 26
“A More Vibrant Theology of Children”, Marcia Bunge
(published in Christian Reflection by The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor)
February 23 (short letter + essay)
“Letter to Young Parents”, James K.A. Smith
(on the occasion of a baptism – Smith ponders the future project of shaping a life)
and
“Raising the Awesome Child”, Diane M. Hoffman
(examines the agenda of parenting in which the goal is to raise amazing kids)
March 23
“Beyond Noah’s Ark”, Susan R. Garrett
(reconsidering how we might best impart a depth of the scriptures to children)
April 27
“Teach Your Children Well”, John Zucchi
(the role of the church and the contents of spiritual formation)
May 18
“Holding Them Closer”, Carl Desportes Bowman
(considers parental connections to children as they mature toward independence)
For other/future information on the Opus Project on Faith, Work, and Culture, click here.
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