Purpose
Want to be more intentional in the way you approach being a dad? Want to have the chance to get to know some other dads? Want to be exposed to different ideas about parenthood and have the chance to discuss them? How do you make all these things happen in one magical place? Dads Group.
I want this for myself and I think it might benefit you too.
Who's leading this group?
I'm Malcolm Smith. I’m currently serving as Assistant Pastor of Bryn Athyn Church. I’m a dad of four kids, ages 7-13. I served for 11 years at a New Church church and elementary school in South Africa and, during that time, really enjoyed and benefitted from participating in and running various programs on parenting. I’m excited to get similar things going here in Bryn Athyn. Email me at malcolm.smith@brynathynchurch.org.
Who is this for?
Dads—new dads still trying to figure out how to change a diaper, dads of teenagers, grandads trying to figure out how to be a positive role in the lives of their grandchildren and grown-up children, and even not-yet-dads who’d like to come.
We will be approaching the topic of parenting from a religious perspective—particularly a New Church Christian perspective. Any dad is invited to participate, as long as you are not antagonistic to that perspective.
Format
This will be in a discussion group format. We will have brief check-ins at the beginning, as a way to start to get to know each other’s names. I will spend some time each meeting going through some concepts and/or passages to get the conversation and discussion going but I will be there as a facilitator not as an expert.
This is not a sharing group but sharing of personal experiences will be welcome for those that would like to. We will end each time with giving each person a chance to share a closing thought and then we will pray together.
We will stick to an hour and a half for the more formal group time with more time afterwards to talk and hang out informally for those that want to stick around.
Content
If this group gets going and lasts for a while (which I’m hoping it will), then we will have the time to explore a variety of different content: we might read and discuss some secular books on parenting; we might do some Bible study; we might watch some videos on parenting and discuss what comes up in them; we might have some guest speakers on different topics.
Let me know what topics would be most useful to you.
Food
We'll have some basic snacks and drinks. I might try to get a roster going to have people take turns bringing something.
Timing, Frequency, & Location
We're going to aim to have these about once a month on Wednesdays. There will be two time slots - 6:45-8:15 am in the Bryn Athyn Scout Building and 7:30-9:00 pm in the Bryn Athyn Church School Library. Let me know if none of these work for you.
What do I need from you?
- Come try it out.
- Sign up to bring food.
- Suggest topics.
- Invite other people who might benefit from being part of this group. Send people the link to this page - brynathynchurch.org/dads
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