Chester County Program Aims To Help Single Parents

EXTON, PA - ​A new Single & Parenting series for mothers and fathers attempting to cope with raising children by themselves is changing days of the week this Winter to provide free simultaneous childcare for youngsters through teens.

Calvary Fellowship of Downingtown, the only area church to provide the national series, offered it for the first time in Fall 2015 as part of its Care Monday schedule of support groups.

The new time will be from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Sundays, starting January 10, in the rear entrance education wing of the church at 95 West Devon Drive at Route 113, Exton/Lionville, with children able to take advantage of the church’s KidzJam activities for the younger set and separate Middle and High School Life Groups for teens during the same time frame.

The 13-week DVD/discussion series is designed to assist individuals struggling with single parenthood due to separation or divorce, loss of a parent due to death, or other single parent or caregiver situations. Non-denominational materials are produced by the same company as both the DivorceCare and GriefShare series the church has offered for many years.

Bob VanArsdale, church care pastor, said that Single & Parenting provides ideas about ways to approach various situations involving children, bolstering communications and attempting to smooth out rough spots in parent-child relationships.

“We aren’t going to be telling parents how they should raise their children,” he said, “but will provide information from nationally recognized experts as to conflict areas to be aware of and how to approach them for the best current and future health of their children, teens and the family as a whole.”

Over three dozen authors, family ministry leaders and counselors, and pastors will provide timely DVD discussions during the multi-week cycle, including grief counselor H. Norman Wright, financial expert Dave Ramsey, DivorceCare for Kids author Linda Ranson Jacobs, and Smart Stepfamilies founder Ron Deal. Several of the national presenters are from Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The DVDs also will highlight actual experiences from other single parents and be supplemented by weekly group discussions that draw on situations of other single parents attending the series.

Each session is self-contained, so parents can join the group at any time.

Weekly topics include Tired and Overwhelmed, Your Children & Your Fears, Rest & Comfort, Money & Career, Parenting Goals and Expectations, Suffering and Adversity, Emotions and Stability, Parenting Tools & Projects, Parenting Approaches & God’s Love, Talking & Listening, Conflict Resolution, and Dating and Single Sexuality.
There is a materials and guidebook fee of $15, with further information and registration at www.singleandparenting.org, or Pastor VanArsdale at bvanarsdale@cfdowningtown.com or (610) 363-7171 x2154.
​Parents are asked to arrive by 9 a.m. for the first session to enable registration of their children for child security and safety purposes, along with their own registration and materials distribution. Free refreshments are available during morning activities.

​Information on KidzJam is available at www.cfdowningtown.com/kidz, and the Middle and High School Life Groups at www.cfdowningtown.com/students. The second of two Sunday morning worship services also is available from 11 a.m. to noon.