There’s not a family alive who hasn’t experienced the curveball of big emotions at some point or other - sometimes from the child, sometimes from the grown-up! Helping us to navigate the emotions that crop up in family life with Biblical wisdom is Lisa Campbell. Lisa is a freelance children, youth and family ministry consultant who specialises in inclusion. She’s a former SENCO (in both primary and secondary schools), and is passionate about enabling churches to create safe, inclusive, trauma-sensitive spaces where every child feels seen, heard and valued and can discover more of the incredibl ..read more

In this longer episode, we chat to Russ De Vos - husband, father and creator of LIFELINE - about the curveball of addiction. Russ is open about the many challenges he and his family have been through over the past 20 years, and the incredible grace of God in bringing his heart to repentance and healing. Together with his wife Heather, Russ has equipped hundreds of couples across the United States whose teens are struggling with addiction with the skills and strategies that were so life-changing for them as they parented their own teen. Links: Check out Catalyst Coaching: www.catalystcoachinghq ..read more

This season, we’re looking at the ‘curveballs’ that enter our parenting journey and threaten to derail family life. In today’s episode, we’re thinking about early life trauma. Whether we’re parenting adopted or fostered kids, or whether our birth kids have been through traumatic events, what are the obstacles to discipleship, and what are the practices which help our kids see Jesus? Sharing her nuggets of truth and wisdom is mum-of-eleven (yes, you read that right) and co-founder of Back2Back Ministries, Beth Guckenberger. Parenting has not been the journey Beth imagined, as God has opened the ..read more

As we head towards Easter, today’s episode - the Season 8 finale - looks at how we can help our families connect with God through the major (and minor) festivals throughout the year. Do we have to set up multiple exhausting family traditions? What about secular festivities? Where do they fit in? And how do we talk about the tricky bits of Easter? Joining us to share her wisdom from many years’ experience of children’s, youth and family work is Parenting for Faith founder Rachel Turner. Rachel is the author of many Parenting for Faith titles, presents three of our four courses, and was the orig ..read more

What does it mean to be creative? Whether our kids enjoy visual art like painting or drawing, or whether their creativity can be seen in music, cooking or problem-solving, today’s episode is all about how we can connect with God through art. We look at how to encourage our kids to be creative, whether or not they consider themselves ‘arty’ - and also how looking at, interpreting and responding to visual art around us can turn our eyes towards our Creator. Sharing her expertise and wisdom in today’s episode is Sophie Killingley of Perish and Fade. Sophie is an artist and author, and lives in Su ..read more

Many of our children enjoy dance, formally or informally, and today’s episode is all about how we can connect with God through the bodies he’s given us, whether that’s in dance, exercise or any kind of movement. To guide us through, we’re delighted to be joined by Ruth Carpenter, founder of Psalms and Stretches. Ruth is a professionally-trained contemporary dancer, Pilates teacher and mum of two little ones. Links: Psalms and Stretches: https://www.psalmsandstretches.com/ Follow Psalms and Stretches on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/psalmsandstretches/ Follow Psalms and Stretches on Face ..read more

Fashion is something all of our children experience in various ways. At the very least, all our kids have to choose something to wear each day! But for many of our children and young people, fashion is a hobby, a way they can express themselves, and a mark of their God-given creativity. So how can we help our kids to connect with God through fashion? How do we help them navigate body image and confidence? And what about the ethics of fast fashion? Tola-Doll Fisher is our guest today. Tola is a model, as well as editor and creative director at Premier Woman Alive. She co-hosts the YouTube show ..read more

Many of our children and teens will ask big questions about God, faith and the church at some point in their childhood. Some of our kids ask 100 questions a day, every day! How should we answer these questions? How can we help our kids seek Jesus through their questions? Here to help us think through how we approach these questions is none other than Canon J.John: an experienced evangelist, minister, speaker, broadcaster and writer of over four decades. In particular, J.John’s book ‘That’s a Good Question!’ helps children think through some of the most common questions about faith. Canon J.Joh ..read more

Sport is a large part of life for many of our children and young people, and there is a bigger range than ever for them to get involved in. Even our children who don’t enjoy sport will usually be taking part in school PE lessons or active extra-curricular clubs. So what are the lessons we can learn from sport to help us as we draw closer to Jesus? How can we enjoy the bodies and opportunities God has given us, without them becoming an idol? And what are the sorts of windows we can create, through sport, into what a life lived with God looks like? Today’s guest is Richard Shorter, Baptist minis ..read more

In this episode of the Parenting for Faith podcast we are joined by Ben Jones from Missional Generation. We asked Ben all about connecting with God through gaming and how we can talk to our kids and teens about God through the games that they are playing. We also touched on AI and Ben shared some really helpful ideas on how we can have helpful and important conversations with our children about it. Ben Jones is the CEO and founder of Missional Generation. Ben is married to Hannah and they have two primary aged children. The family have lived in Leeds for many years and enjoy being part of the ..read more