InStep Ministries Newsletter

Stepping Up	May, 2007 Volume IV #5 Mark Your Calendars AMFM National Conference June 4th -8th 2007 Association of Marriage and Family Ministries (AMFM) Pre- Conference Course Certification in Single-Parent and Stepfamily Ministry Jeff and Judi will teach atraining course to qualify workshop attendees for an AMFM certification in Single-Parent & Stepfamily Ministry. Tues, June: 5th Step Couples Intensive Jeff and Judi will be leading several weekend intensives this fall at a local bed- and-breakfast location. The weekend retreat begins Friday evening and continues all-day SaturdayCall 1-888-5INSTEP for details. Call 1-888-5InStep for details Online Forum Topics include: Stepfamilies, Single Adults, Single Parents, and more! Register Now at instepministries.com Developing Healthy Relationships Tucson and Phoenix area; coming this fall, locations TBA. Workshops will focus on understanding the impact of divorce and remarriage on children. Developing Healthy Relationships Jeff and Judi continue to teach this seminar based on the InStep book, Developing Healthy Relationships. We are looking for new venues in Tucson and Phoenix to teach this seminar. Call 1-888-5INSTEP for more information. Ministering to Today’ Families We provide hands-on training in key aspects of ministry development, including team building, needs assessment, goal setting and program development and evaluation. Workshop costs are by donation. For more information, call us toll free at 1-888-5INSTEP. Fund-Raising Campaign Please prayerfully consider becoming involved in reaching non-traditional families for Christ. (Your donations to InStep Ministries are tax deductible.) Prayer requests: Please pray for the leadership of AMFM and the upcoming June conference. Pray that God will provide InStep with ministry partners and volunteers. We ask that you also lift up our capital fund campaign, the InStep Board, as well as Jeff and Judi.
Welcome to InStep's monthly E-Newsletter! Each month we feature practical information for singles, single parents and stepfamilies to help you achieve healthy, authentic relationships. This E-newsletter also provides articles and resources to assist those who are developing or are involved in a non-traditional family ministry. If this newsletter is helpful to you, please let us know. Contact us with feedback, questions or comments toll free at: 1-888-5INSTEP at our email address below. Contact us with feedback, questions or comments toll free at: 1-888-5INSTEP or email: InStepMin@aol.com.
Personal Communiqué Jeff & Judi Parziale
Many of you have read about the Association for Marriage and Family Ministries (AMFM) in our previous newsletters. For those who are not familiar with AMFM, we’d like to share with you the reasons that we became AMFM members. About 4 years ago, we were asked to lunch by Eric and Jennifer Garcia, Co-Founders of AMFM. They had heard that we were involved in stepfamily ministry and wanted to hear more about InStep Ministries. After we shared our ministry goals, they described their vision for AMFM. They explained that more church leaders and lay members were beginning to recognize the *great need* to minister to couples, parents and families in their congregations and communities. However, pastors often did not know where to turn for the necessary resources and assistance to meet this need. In addition, in order to remain responsive and relevant to their members and the culture, churches were becoming increasingly aware of the need to address the concerns of various types of families. These types include not only first-marriages, biological parents, and intact families, but also remarrieds, single and adopted parents, stepfamilies, and those living together unmarried. They concluded by saying, the fact is, the Church must take back its role as the primary foundation for building strong marriages and strengthening families, regardless of the form they take. After hearing this, we could hardly contain our excitement because we had been praying, for some time, that the Church would move in this direction. We became AMFM members and a year later, we were leading the AMFM Stepfamily Focus Group. Serving as a couple at AMFM conferences has strengthened our marriage and provided treasured friendships. Every AMFM Conference is a unique and blessed event. If you’re interested in developing authentic relationships, you’ll find them at AMFM. If you or your pastor would like up-to-date training in over 14 areas of marriage and family ministry, register to attend the AMFM Conference this June. One thing is for sure, you’ll be blessed! For more information or to register for the conference, go to http://www.amfmconference.com
Research Update
Below is a summary of George Barna’s research on parenting and child development. He offered these findings in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy. By the time a child is 23 years old, he or she will have seen countless murders among the more than 30,000 acts of violence via television, movies and video games. One-third of the nation’s teenagers report having been in a physical fight at least once in the last year. Nearly one out of every five students in 9th through 12th grade has carried a gun, knife or club in the past month. Few parents, though, are aware of the dramatic effect the media have upon people’s behavior and values. Just 9% of parents believe that the media are the most significant influence on their children’s lives, and only one out of every three parents of kids under 13 impose any significant restrictions or limitations on how much or what type of media their children are exposed to. Read More
Children Of Divorce (and Alec Baldwin)
The tragic circumstances surrounding the phone message Alec Baldwin left his 11-year-old daughter underscores a key issue for children of divorce; often they must try to bridge the gaps between adversarial parents. Respondents have commented that Baldwin, after years of doing battle in court, should have better control over his emotions and healthier ways of dealing with post-divorce frustrations. He should know by now that there are things a parent should not expose a child to, such as verbal abuse. He should not, under any circumstances, take his negative feelings toward his former spouse out on his daughter. He should have put his child's needs before his own needs. Regardless of how hurt or angry he was over his child not answering the phone, he should have known that his daughter was wrong person to take it out on. That’s a lot of “shoulds.”Read more
Stories Still Needed!
We are involved in a new project, and we need your help! If you have a stepfamily or single parent ministry that you have started or participate in, we want to learn from you about what worked and/or what did not work. Whether you have used others' or our resources, we are interested in hearing about your experience. Please email your stories or comments to InStepMin@aol.com and label the subject line as *"ministry story". We look forward to hearing from you!*
Upcoming Events
AMFM 2007 National Conference: Charlotte, North Carolina June 4-8. Mark Gungor, Norm Wright and John Trent are just a few of the presenters at this year’s conference. Workshops in every area of marriage and family ministry are available. Mark your calendars now for this incredible training event. If you are involved in marriage and family ministry at any level, this conference is for you. Register at http://www.amfmconference.com. AMFM Pre-Conference Course: Certification in Single-Parent and Stepfamily Ministry. Jeff and Judi will teach a training course to qualify workshop attendees for an AMFM certification in Single-Parent & Stepfamily Ministry. The one-day course is Tuesday, June 5th, the day before the AMFM Conference begins. The Parziales will also present the Thursday morning keynote address, *God Still Uses Broken People.* Stepcouple Intensives Jeff and Judi will be leading several weekend intensives this fall at a local bed- and-breakfast location. The weekend retreat begins on Friday evening and continues all-day Saturday. The event is limited to six couples per weekend. If you are looking to strengthen your relationship and understand the challenges of marriage in a stepfamily, then plan a weekend with the Parziales. Call 1-888-5INSTEP for details. Developing Healthy Relationships A continuing seminar based on the InStep book, Developing Healthy Relationships. This topic is essential for single adults and single parents. You simply cannot be in healthy relationship if you are not spiritually and emotionally healthy. We are looking for new venues in Tucson and Phoenix to teach this seminar. Call 1-888-5INSTEP for more information. Ministering to Today’ Families: InStep’s purpose is to serve the local church. Our mission is to impact our culture for Christ by equipping local churches to effectively minister to the unique needs of today’s non-traditional families. To that end, we have developed a one-day workshop based on our workbook, Thirsty People Sitting at Wells: Developing a Stepfamily Ministry in Your Local Church. We provide hands-on training in key aspects of ministry development, including team building, needs assessment, goal setting and program development and evaluation. Workshop costs are by donation. For more information, call us toll free at 1-888-5INSTEP. Fund-Raising Campaign We are excited about several potential new ministry projects in the line-up for 2007-8, including: coaching lay ministry leaders, training support group leaders, parenting training and support for single parents; a care program for children in single parent and stepfamily homes; and a mentoring training program. Also, we have talked to Harvest Media Ministries about creating video modules for several of our resources. However, we cannot do these projects without your help. Please prayerfully consider becoming involved in reaching non-traditional families for Christ. (Your donations to InStep Ministries are tax deductible.) Prayer requests: Please pray for the leadership of AMFM and the upcoming June conference. Pray that God will provide InStep with ministry partners and volunteers. We ask that you also lift up our capital fund campaign, the InStep Board, as well as Jeff and Judi.

About Instep Ministries
Our purpose is to influence our culture for Christ. Our passion is to equip people for life. Our vision is to see every single, single parent or stepfamily member connected to a faith community, where they can build authentic relationships, find healing and be equipped to serve. Our mission is to provide resources, counseling and other services that are practical, Biblical, and affordable. InStep is dedicated to serving the local church and the millions of individuals in non-traditional families. We are a 501c3 faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to serving singles, single parents and stepfamilies and those who minister to them. Our purpose is to influence our culture for Christ. Our passion is to equip people for life. Our vision is to see every single, single parent or stepfamily member connected to a faith community, where they can build authentic relationships, find healing and be equipped to serve. Our mission is to provide resources, counseling and other services that are practical, Biblical, and affordable. InStep is passionate about serving the local church and the millions of individuals in non-traditional families. To learn more about InStep, visit our website:http://www.instepministries.com For details and updates on InStep activities, call 520-721-0800 or send email to: Instepmin@aol.com To order InStep resources, call 1-888-5INSTEP. If you enjoy this newsletter, please forward this newsletter to a friend. If you would like to start a support group or stepfamily ministry in your area, please contact us-- we can help! InStep is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit ministry. Donations are tax-deductible and always welcome. Thank you for your support. Please keep us in your prayers.