Parenting: Compass: Christian Explorations of Daily Living

This lively volume attempts to show how central Christian convictions inform the age-old practices of parenting and how the experience and practice of parenting shape Christian faith today. By paying special attention to some of the challenges and issues of parenting in a globalized world, the book offers a fresh vision of parenting that promotes justice, human flourishing, and recognition that all people are children of God.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1

“In his thoughtful and poignant portrait of parenting, David Jenson bears witness to the many fruits of recent developments in practical theology and childhood studies. He takes us inside—inside his own life as a parent and inside the thought of classic theologians—to reclaim the potential of parenting to enrich theology and everyday Christian life. Parents, scholars, and ministers alike will benefit from the dexterity and wisdom he brings to this endeavor.”
—Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore
E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of Pastoral Theology
The Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion, Vanderbilt University
Author of Also a Mother: Work and Family as Theological Dilemma (1994), and
In the Midst of Chaos: Care of Children as Spiritual Practice (2006)

"David Jensen's Parenting weaves everyday experience and Christian traditions to produce a wise, complex, and beautifully written exploration of parenting as a gift. Theologians, students, parents, ministers, and others will be inspired to think outside current boxes by this honest and searching new vision for raising children. Here is theology at its profound and transformative best."
—John Wall
Professor of Religion
Rutgers University

"David Jensen's insightful meditation sheds new light on the practice of parenting for Christians living in the 21st century. Drawing on the riches of the Christian biblical and theological tradition and his own experience as parent, theologian, and ethicist, Jensen both invites and challenges his readers to experience parenting as a spiritual task. This is no mere idealization of child-rearing, but rather a realistic proposal that suffuses daily routines with creative grace."
—Barbara Pitkin, 
Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies, 
Stanford University