{"id":286664,"date":"2024-08-15T13:48:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T17:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/?post_type=familylifeblended&#038;p=286664"},"modified":"2024-11-11T09:29:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T14:29:21","slug":"pastors","status":"publish","type":"familylifeblended","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/familylifeblended\/pastors\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-92d4ed1b alignfull uagb-is-root-container\" fetchpriority=\"high\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-3004c38f\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/08\/FLB-Pastor-Page-Header_1024x350.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-286672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/08\/FLB-Pastor-Page-Header_1024x350.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/08\/FLB-Pastor-Page-Header_1024x350.jpg?resize=768,263 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-9560f665 alignfull uagb-is-root-container\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading uagb-block-5bbf49c9\"><h2 class=\"uagb-heading-text\">Pastors are asking good questions.<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-27bd10a2\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cWhy do we need a ministry to blended family couples when we have a marriage ministry (or family\/parent ministry)?\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cWhat exactly do you mean by \u2018blended family\u2019 anyway? Does that include adoptive families or biracial couples?\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cDoesn\u2019t ministering to divorced and remarried people send the wrong message about divorce and God\u2019s design for the family? Isn\u2019t this \u2018going soft\u2019 on divorce?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe you\u2019re asking these and other questions yourself. We\u2019re glad you are. As teachers of God\u2019s Word and servants in His Kingdom, we need to ask hard theological questions and pragmatic ministry questions so we rightly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). If you can invest about one hour, the resources on this page will offer a few answers to your questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-e02f610b alignfull uagb-is-root-container\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading uagb-block-300a3bc5\"><h2 class=\"uagb-heading-text\">Why should pastors care about stepfamily ministry?<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-80ea532b alignfull uagb-is-root-container\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-e7ebd161\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rob Bugh is an author and served as senior pastor of Wheaton Bible Church in Chicago for 26 years; he\u2019s also part of a blended family. This presentation was made at the 2020 annual Summit on Stepfamily Ministry, hosted by FamilyLife. Please take 30 minutes to watch this video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With these numbers, someday blended family ministry will be common in the church:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>62% of couples under 55 in the U.S. have a stepparent or stepchild relationship connected to one or both of the partners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>40% of families raising children in the U.S. are blended families<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>15% of&nbsp;<em>first<\/em>&nbsp;marriages form stepfamilies (<a href=\"https:\/\/smartstepfamilies.com\/smart-help\/marriage-family-stepfamily-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">find stat references here<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-0c90694f\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rob Bugh: &quot;Essential: Why Senior Pastors Must Care About Stepfamily Ministry.&quot;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D3l6wI5K5LU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-475d44bc alignfull uagb-is-root-container\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Next, we suggest you read&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/articles\/topics\/blended-family\/loving-mercy-a-theological-basis-for-blended-family-ministry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Loving Mercy: A Theological Basis for Blended Family Ministry<\/a>&nbsp; by Ron Deal. This article wrestles with what we consider to be legitimate pastoral concerns about ministering to divorced and remarried people.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading uagb-block-0bdd9f6d\"><h2 class=\"uagb-heading-text\">Next Steps<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you\u2019ve watched Rob\u2019s presentation and read Ron\u2019s article, you may want to take a few of these suggested next steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Share what you\u2019re learning\/thinking with other leaders in your church. What are their thoughts? What are the implications for your ministry?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ready to begin? Visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/familylifeblended\/start-a-stepfamily-ministry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Starting a Stepfamily Ministry<\/a>&nbsp;for practical next steps and to get connected to a free ministry coach.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Visit the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/familylifeblended\/blended-families\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FamilyLife Blended homepage<\/a>&nbsp;to browse our bank of articles, podcasts, events, online videos, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/shop.familylife.com\/product-category\/marriage\/blended-family\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bestselling resources<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you have questions for the FamilyLife Blended team, email&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:blended@familylife.com\">blended@familylife.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pastors are asking good questions. Maybe you\u2019re asking these and other questions yourself. We\u2019re<a class=\"d-block py-2 read-more color-cyan small\" href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/familylifeblended\/pastors\/\" title=\"Read more: Pastors\" >Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50999,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","categories":[],"tags":[],"cwp_profile":[],"class_list":["post-286664","familylifeblended","type-familylifeblended","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Patrick","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/patrick-jonescru-org\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Pastors are asking good questions. Maybe you\u2019re asking these and other questions yourself. We\u2019reRead More &raquo;","meta_box":{"theme_header_position":"Sticky","post_header_is_sticky":"static","is_header_overlay":"0"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/familylifeblended\/286664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/familylifeblended"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/familylifeblended"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50999"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286664"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=286664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}