Author to talk about parenting

Author and pastor Lee Hull Moses will lead a workshop for parents on Nov. 14 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville.
Author and pastor Lee Hull Moses will lead a workshop for parents on Nov. 14 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville.

Author and pastor Lee Hull Moses will lead a workshop for frazzled parents and "overly committed" folks of all ages from 1-4 p.m. Nov. 14 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville.

The workshop, "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made," is part of the church's ongoing McMichael Series. Moses will also give a talk, "More Than Enough," at 10 a.m. Nov. 15.

Moses is co-author of the book Hopes and Fears: Everyday Theology for New Parents and Other Tired, Anxious People and is a frequent contributor to Christian Century magazine. She also serves as senior pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Greensboro, N.C.

Moses said the three-hour workshop is for parents with children of any age, including grandparents.

"We're going to be talking about the realities of parenting," said Moses, the mother of two young children. "I'm not an expert and it's not a how-to-parent event. It's more of giving people a chance to talk with each other, share their joys and celebrations, trials and challenges and think about what resources the Christian tradition has to help us in this task of parenting."

Moses co-authored Hopes and Fears with her friend, Bromleigh McCleneghan, a Methodist minister. They had gone through pregnancy together and their first children were born in the same week. They spent much time talking throughout their pregnancies and after about what it means to be a parent.

"We found ourselves having lots of conversations and feeling at a loss to make sense of what had happened to us and the way parenting is just so overwhelming even when things are going well," Moses said. "We started thinking about what does it mean to have bodies and to be created in the image of God and what these bodies have to do with parenting. Things like rest and Sabbath time took on whole new meanings."

The goal of the book was to help readers think theologically about parenting. Moses said being a parent has taught her to recognize "how God works and creates with us and through us."

Moses said the workshop is designed to help participants think about the task of parenting and to connect with other parents.

"There will be some time for prayer, too," she said. "One of the things we forget to do sometimes is to pray for our children or the children of the world. I'll introduce a way we might do that, which I hope will give parents some much needed time to sit still."

The Sunday morning talk will include some topics from her book due out next year titled More Than Enough.

"It really continues to explore those questions about justice issues and family life but more broadly beyond parenting. It's particularly for people who have enough -- whatever that means. I've never had to worry about where my dinner will come from but other people do. Are there some specific things we can do about that and some important resources in Christian tradition that can help us think about that."

St. Paul's Episcopal Church is at 224 N. East Ave., Fayetteville. Information is available online at stpaulsfay.org or by calling (479) 442-7373.

Religion on 11/07/2015

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