Fathers and sons are getting special attention from religion and spirituality publishers in the parenting category—and not just in June for Father's Day. Here are four upcoming titles that focus on healing bonds between generations and creating strong emotional and spiritual connections in the light of faith.
I Wish My Dad: The Power of Vulnerable Conversations between Fathers and Sons (Broadleaf, Oct.) reveals conversations between 17 pairs of fathers and sons collected by author and speaker Romal Tune. Broadleaf acquiring editor Valerie Weaver-Zercher says the book addresses spiritual and emotional themes that apply to people of all faiths and none.
Contributors to Tune's book bare their souls as they finish this sentence: “I wish my dad…” The idea came from a conversation with his literary agent, Adrienne Ingrum, Tune writes. He quotes Ingrum saying to him: “You still sound angry with your dad and don’t show him any grace or forgiveness. Given the challenges you have had with your children, one day you are going to want grace and forgiveness from them. So you need to offer that to your dad, because you are going to want and need it one day.” The book concludes with the conversation between Tune and his son, Jordan.
Three more upcoming books intend to guide and inspire fathers, and each draws on the Bible for wisdom.
Dear Son: Raising Faithful, Just, and Compassionate Men (Chalice, out now) is written as letters from two fathers — A Disciples of Christ pastor Jonathan B. Hall and Beau T. Underwood, who writes a newsletter for the public witness site Word&Way—to their young sons. Their intent is to model for them, and the fathers who read the book, that a dad should be "a servant of God, a man of emotion, and someone striving to raise sons committed to fixing the injustices of the world rather than perpetuating them.”
Raising Emotionally Strong Boys: Tools Your Son Can Build On for Life (Bethany, June) is by David Thomas, a social worker with a Christian counseling ministry and host of the Raising Boys & Girls podcast. The book presents techniques for dealing with anger, anxiety, and depression aimed at helping boys develop self-reliance, resilience, and empathy. The goal is to set boys “on a biblical path of masculinity” and "healthy emotional intelligence."
Finally, Uprising: The Epic Battle for the Most Fatherless Generation in History (Chosen, Oct.) is by pastor and author Kris Vallotton, co-founder of the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and Moral Revolution in Redding, Calif., which trains students to become revivalists and missionaries. Valloton asserts that men who abandon or fail at rearing their children by biblical principles are contributing to rising rates of poverty, violence, divorce, and corruption in society. He extols men “to fully step into their God-given destinies…restoring fractured families and unleashing life in a culture of death.“
