On a Firm Foundation | Sojourners

On a Firm Foundation

Resources to help you raise happy and engaged kids

Shaped by God: Twelve Essentials for Nurturing Faith in Children, Youth, and Adults, edited by Robert J. Keeley. A dozen authors tell how to foster faith formation at different ages, spanning topics including story, worship, intergenerational community, and developmental disabilities. Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2010

Formational Children’s Ministry: Shaping Children Using Story, Ritual, and Relationship, by Ivy Beckwith. This slim volume, written from an emerging church perspective, offers strategies for parents and ministers to enlist children’s imaginations for the “hope and magnificent love of God’s kingdom.” Baker Books, 2010

Parenting for Peace and Justice: Ten Years Later, by James and Kathleen McGinnis. This classic volume argues that nonviolent, nonmaterialistic kids don’t just happen; they are nurtured by hands-on family participation in helping others. Out of print, but available used. Orbis Books, 1990

MennoMedia, publisher for the U.S. and Canadian Mennonite churches, produces materials including picture books, young adult fiction, and biographies infused with Mennonite themes such as peacemaking, God’s presence in trouble, and creation care. www.mpn.net

Teaching Tolerance from the Southern Poverty Law Center offers Beyond the Golden Rule, a free, downloadable guide for parents to help children and teens reject prejudice. Teachers’ resources, including Teaching Tolerance magazine, are also available. tolerance.org

Maryknoll Magazine draws stories from the work of Maryknoll priests, sisters, brothers, and lay missioners around the world, bringing to life global issues from a Catholic social teaching perspective. Each issue has two downloadable classroom discussion guides. maryknollmagazine.org

The Share Lent Solidarity Calendar, from the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, is a free, day-by-day Lenten journey to help families reflect on how their lifestyles affect our planet and families in the global South. devp.org/sharelent

"Love Isn’t Enough" is a blog featuring candid, anti-racist parenting discussion, including responses to current events. loveisntenough.com

Improve Communication: Lessons from One Family’s Experiments in Conflict, Parenting, and Love. Practical tips for dealing with family conflicts. improvecommunication.net

This appears in the July 2012 issue of Sojourners