Bringing Fathers Back Home
KIRKLAND, Wash. – In an effort to raise awareness about the fatherlessness epidemic in the United States, both ministry leaders and those who are experiencing the wounds of such a weakened family dynamic, attended the Father-Shift conference in the Seattle area this past weekend.
This is the second Father-Shift conference, which organizers hope will become a movement about addressing the problem of families without fathers and offering solutions. The first event was held in Portland last year, kicked off by Pastor Mark Strong of Life Change Christian Center, who wrote, Church for the Fatherless: A Ministry Model for Society's Most Pressing Problem. Strong was a speaker at the conference held over the weekend at City Church in Kirkland, Wash.
"I think that the conference is needed greatly at this point in time and juncture for where we are as a country," conference organizer Ezechiel Bambolo, Jr., author of The Firstborn Son: A curse, a gift, or a Calling, and an elder at Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Wash., told The Christian Post.
"We have a message in this culture that sometimes goes out that men are insignificant, not smart enough, not bright enough and you have men asking 'what is the incentive for me even being a part of my child's life if our system is setup to give more credibility to the female without asking the real questions about the role of men?'"