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Celebrating Abba Father: Healing the Fatherless Through the Spirit of Adoption

The immense number of casualties from the pandemic of fatherlessness necessitates a fresh model of evangelism and spiritual formation that can attract, heal and transform future Christians. There is a demand to understand the spiritual-relational traits that can unite future sons and daughters of God with Abba Father. Celebrating Abba Father: Healing the Fatherless Through the Spirit of Adoption will be a template that encourages these outcomes:
1. facilitates reconciliation between God the Father and the lost who have been damaged by fatherlessness and
2. disciples fatherless people.

Celebrating Abba Father: Healing the Fatherless Through the Spirit of Adoption will employ Bible study, times of devotion, intimate stories of reconciliation, and testimonies of fatherhood to engender transformational relationships between Abba Father and His sons and daughters.

Take up the cause of the fatherless.
Isaiah 1:17

THE PROBLEM
Fatherlessness is an international, universal pandemic that exacerbates the brokenness of humanity and intensifies poverty of the mind, body, soul and spirit. There are many causes of fatherlessness, including death, divorce, abandonment, abuse and father absence. These forms of fatherlessness render its victims wounded, broken, and despairing. The brokenness of Fatherlessness engenders a distorted view of God as Abba Father, cultivating a lack of knowledge of God. The absence, negligence, failure, and abuse inflicted on fatherless children leave their souls, spirits, and bodies deeply wounded. These father wounds foster hesitation, difficulty, and reticence in the adult child’s religious attitudes. Their perception of God as Father is misrepresented by their experience with their natural father. This false perception of God hinders them from entering a relationship with God as Father through the work of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Discipleship and evangelism are closely related. Bill Hull and Bobby Harrington define discipleship as trusting God’s presence as Christians intentionally enter into the lives of others, guiding them to trust, follow and obey Jesus and all of His teachings. Their definition includes aspects of evangelism and discipleship. In order for the Church to thrive, the Church must become skillful in evangelizing and discipling in tandem. Barna reported that only 28% of Christians are actively engaged in discipleship, and approximately 39% are not engaged in being discipled or discipling others. They also report that many Christians do not feel equipped to disciple others. The Church can begin practicing a tandem model of discipleship and evangelism that will affect a large population of every society, the fatherless. The rising rates of fatherlessness, suggests the need for a fresh model of spiritual formation that can attract and transform future Christians. There is a demand to understand the spiritual-relational traits that can bind future sons and daughters of God to Abba Father. Therefore, this doctoral project will research, implement and create an effective evangelistic-discipleship tool that can be easily duplicated. This project will facilitate a transformational relationship between Abba Father and His sons and daughters.

Even though there are numerous books, courses, conferences, and workshops on the Christian discipleship process, pastors and Christian workers have struggled with the question, “How do we effectively disciple persons?” The goal of this doctoral project is to effectively evangelize and disciple fatherless persons. A Pew research article made headline news on September 13th, 2022. According to the Pew Research Center article, “Modeling the Future of Religion in America”, the number of U. S. citizens who practice Christianity has been steadily dwindling since the 1990s. If this trend continues, the number of U. S. Christians is predicted to plummet to less than 50% of the total population. In the 1990s, Christians accounted for 90% of the population; in 2007, down to 78%; today, only 64%. This discussion is not new to pastors and church workers.

Hans Luther, the father of the great theologian Martin Luther, was a harsh parent and a strict disciplinarian. In Ephesians 6:4, fathers are instructed by God not to provoke their children to anger, but to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Hans had his own will for his son Martin, as many fathers do. He wanted Martin to become a lawyer, perhaps to increase the family’s prominence in the community or maybe for financial gain. I believe that Martin deeply felt the true call of God on his life, as he later entered a monastery. Hans Luther’s personality, and presence created an impediment in Martin’s spiritual life so much so that it was difficult for Martin Luther to pray the Lord’s prayer. I can imagine the horror of praying, “Our Father which art in heaven…” Was God really like his father? Harsh? Demeaning? Overbearing? The concept of God as Father horrified Martin Luther because of the image of his biological father. Our Heavenly Father had a specific will for Martin Luther. He became one of the most influential figures in Western history. His writings sparked the Protestant Reformation.

In 1934, an African American Pastor from Georgia made the trip of a lifetime, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, through the Gates of Gibraltar, and across the Mediterranean Sea to the Holy Land. After the pilgrimage, he traveled to Berlin, attending the International Conference of Baptist Pastors. While in Germany, this man whose name was Michael King, became so impressed by what he learned about the Great Reformer, Martin Luther, that he decided to do something drastic. This pastor offered the ultimate tribute to Martin Luther’s memory by changing his own name from Michael King to Martin Luther King. He also changed his 5-year-old son’s name from Michael King, Jr. to Martin Luther King, Jr. Like Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s view of God was engendered in part by his relationship with his father. He explains,
“My home situation was very congenial. I have a marvelous mother and father. I can hardly remember a time that they ever argued (my father happens to be the kind that just won’t argue) or had any great falling out. These factors were highly significant in determining my religious attitudes. It is quite easy for me to think of a God of love mainly because I grew up in a family where love was central and where lovely relationships were ever present. It is quite easy for me to think of the universe as basically friendly mainly because of my uplifting hereditary and environmental circumstances. It is quite easy for me to lean more toward optimism than pessimism about human nature mainly because of my childhood experiences.”
It is striking that both the demeanor of Hans Luther and Martin Luther King, Sr. had a profound influence on their son’s perception of God. Martin Luther was negatively affected; Martin Luther King, Jr. was positively affected.
The Reverend Billy Graham’s relationship with his third daughter, Ruth (named after her mother) left her with a form of fatherlessness. The spirit of fatherlessness comes in many forms: abandonment, abuse, neglect, and father absence. Research has shown that children almost always report feeling abandoned when their fathers are not very present in their lives. Ruth Graham, author of ‘In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart,’ experienced a form of fatherlessness. She shares a portion of her experience in her foreword in ‘God Distorted: How Your Earthly Father Affects Your Perception of God and Why It Matters’ by John Bishop. Graham encountered father absence. Her father was consistently gone from the family home preaching the Gospel all over the world. His absence left Ruth feeling abandoned, and insecure. She desperately wanted her father’s affection and attention.
Fatherlessness engenders a distorted view of God which creates hindrances to salvation and discipleship. It also generates soul wounds and spiritual injury that create distortions:
● Low self-esteem
● Negative self-concept
● Self-hatred
● Anxiety
● Depression
● Anger
● Rage
● Boundary issues
● Inappropriate relationships with emotionally unavailable partners
● Relationship difficulties
● Distorted View of Self
● Distorted View of Others
● Distorted View of God the Father

Fatherlessness is pervasive. Paul Hemez and Chanell Washington wrote about fatherlessness in their 2021 article, 'Percentage and number of children living with two parents have dropped since 1968.’ According to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS), 85% of children under the age of 18 lived with two parents in 1968. In 2020, only 70% did. Hemez and Washington reported that children living in single-mother households rose from 11% (7.6 million) in 1968 to 21% ( 15.3 million) in 2020. This trend is alarming because children’s living arrangements affect them in many ways. A child’s home situation affects their academic outcomes. It also has implications for children's “internalizing problems (eg. depression and anxiety), and externalizing problems (eg. anger and aggression)”.

Fatherlessness is prevalent, affecting every socio-economic status, in virtually every nation. A December 2019 study from the Pew Research Center studied ‘Religion and Living Arrangements Around the World’. They reported that out of 130 countries and territories, the United States had the world’s highest rate of children living in single-parent homes. The study also analyzed how families' living arrangements varied by religion. It found that U.S. children from Christian homes and religiously unaffiliated homes were about equally likely to live in single-parent homes.
The National Public Radio article by “Claudio Sanchez, Poverty, Dropouts, Pregnancy, Su***de: What The Numbers Say About Fatherless Kids”, explains that the increasing number of fatherless children in the United States has become one of the most serious problems in education. Alan Blankstein, author of ‘Failure Is Not an Option (TM): Six Principles That Guide Student Achievement in high-performing schools’, said that almost 25 million children in America live without their biological father. He cited a U.S. Department of Education study that found that almost 40 percent of 1st-grade through 12th-grade students are fatherless and seven out of 10 high school dropouts are without a father, “Children are four times more likely to be poor if the father is not around. And we know that poverty is heavily associated with academic failure. [Fatherless kids] are also twice as likely to drop out.”

THE PURPOSE
Celebrating Abba Father: Healing the Fatherless Through the Spirit of Adoption Seminars are Bible-based reconciliatory discipleship modules that address the negative effects of fatherlessness, enabling people to move into a prosperous, intimate relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, by the Power of the Holy Spirit. The ultimate goal is for participants to be reconciled to God as Father through the work of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every person who ever existed had or has a father. No human father is perfect. Only Abba Father is perfect. This truth opens the pathway for participants to connect with the Perfect Father. This connection to Abba Father can facilitate intimacy with God, obedience to God, and spiritual-emotional healing. The Spirit of Adoption is key to demolishing the spirit of fatherlessness that is pervasive in every culture and every nation. Celebrating Abba Father: Healing the Fatherless Through the Spirit of Adoption will employ Bible study, times of devotion, and sacred stories and testimonies of fatherhood to engender transformational relationships between Abba Father and His children.
The writer will utilize concepts of John Wesley’s Class Meeting, Band Meeting, and contemporary discipleship concepts integrated with spiritual practices to propel participants into an understanding of the power of God’s grace to eclipse and heal the consequences of human failure specifically related to fatherlessness.


THE PROPOSED PROJECT
Celebrating Abba Father: Healing the Fatherless Through the Spirit of Adoption Seminars are designed to help participants do the following:
1. Discern how fatherlessness may hinder a person’s relationship with God the Father
2. Acknowledge that God the Father is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only good, perfect, and eternal Father. Human fathers are flawed, imperfect, and transient.
3. Diminish the pain of fatherlessness through reconciliation with Abba Father.
4. Develop intimacy between the fatherless and Abba Father by utilizing the following:
a. Bible study meditation and discussion
b. Personal stories of healing and reconciliation that Celebrate Abba Father
c. Journaling
d. Corporate and personal prayers
e. The practice of forgiveness
f. Times of transformational intimacy with Abba Father
Fatherlessness is prevalent, so the target audience includes Christians and non-Christians. Research shows that many Christians who are members of Churches are fatherless, have father wounds, and have difficult father-child relations. At 23%, the United States has the highest prevalence of children raised without two parents. The rest of the world has only 7%.
The seminars will be held at Miracle Temple Evangelistic Church, a member of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), located in Jackson, Mississippi. Miracle Temple lacks a cohesive spiritual formation program. Members will be trained as lay leaders to facilitate future seminars, ushering fatherless persons into the family of God. Expected participant outcomes include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. Objective Outcomes Measured:
a. `Receiving of Salvation
b. Increasing times of personal devotion including:
i. Bible reading
ii. Prayer
c. Expanding in spiritual growth and maturity
d. Becoming witnesses for Christ
e. Attending corporate worship services regularly
f. Participating/serving in ministry
2. Subjective Outcomes Measured
a. Perceptions of God
i. Benevolent God
ii. Authoritarian God
iii. Distant God
iv. Critical God
b. Emotions associated with God as Father
c. Describe your relationship with your natural father.

The author will engage participants to determine their individual baseline in their belief in and understanding of God, utilizing selected questions from the 2005 Baylor American Piety Questionnaire and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale.
“Ray Paloutzian and his friend and colleague Craig W. Ellison developed the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) during the years 1979-1982. It has since received over 1000 citations, been used or highlighted in over 300 research articles and book chapters, 200 doctoral dissertations and master's theses, 6 books, and 85 posters and presentations. It has also been translated into 20 languages and variations for use with children and adolescents.”

Chapter One will include the introduction of the project. Writer will set forth the problem by exploring the importance of fathers as it relates to receiving God as Father, and the methodology for addressing the problem. Chapter Two will consist of a literature review covering historical views of God as Father, the concept of Abba Father, and Allan Coppedge’s writings on the familial metaphor of God. Special consideration will be given to John Wesley’s sermon the Spirit of Adoption, as well as the Wesleyan view of class meetings and band meetings as discipleship models. Chapter Three will provide the outline of the Celebrating Abba Father: Healing the Fatherless Through the Spirit of Adoption Seminars. Weekly Seminar Template:
1. Welcome, Opening Meditation and Prayer
2. Song of Worship and Scripture Reading
3. Sacred Story of Fatherlessness
4. Celebrating Abba Father/Developing Intimacy with Abba Father
5. Discussions and Prayer
6. Call to Join the Family of God

Seminar Themes:
1. Forgiving our human fathers
2. Receiving the blessing of our fathers
3. Abba Father
4. The Spirit of Adoption

Chapter Four will provide a synopsis of what was done during each seminar. Chapter Five will be an evaluation of the Celebrating Abba Father: Healing the Fatherless Through the Spirit of Adoption Seminars. This chapter will include the pre-seminar and post-seminar evaluation surveys and questionnaires, as well as the statistics related to the congregational outcomes. Chapter Six will list any contributions to ministry.

THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION
The term, “Abba Father” is a biblical term that Jesus called God, His Father. It expresses closeness, togetherness, and an attachment to God as Father. Human attachment difficulties and trauma in childhood can result in negative perceptions of God. The relationship between Abba and His beloved sons and daughters is one of safety, trust, and comfort. The presence of God in this intimate relationship creates healing and restoration in the child. Abba Father inspires confidence, close attachment, and a supernatural sense of security in His children. It also promotes sanctification, spiritual maturity, and surrender in His beloved ones.
This relationship that Abba desires for His children can be hindered by troubled parent-child relationships. Because all humans are imperfect, the human mature cannot provide what the Spirit of Adoption can provide. In the book of Romans chapter 8, the Apostle Paul juxtaposes his teachings on the Spirit of life and the Spirit of sonship. The Spirit of life is directly related to the Spirit of sonship because the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the genesis of this sacred relations.
The Holy Spirit Himself gives the awareness that one is a child of God. One possessing the Spirit of sonship has the assurance that they belong to God, that God is with them, and that there is now no condemnation to them because they are in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of life in Christ has empowered them to walk in the spirit and has made them free from the law of sin and death. “The believer’s once-for-all death to the law of sin does not free him from the necessity of mortifying sin in his members: it makes it necessary and possible for him to do so.” The leadership or governance of the Holy Spirit leads to one’s escape from sinful flesh, its slavish bo***ge, and death. There is a natural progression from children of God to heirs of God, and to joint-heirs with Christ with an added mention of suffering with Christ and sharing in His glory (Romans 8:17). This is the spirit of adoption:
“the adoption of believers signifies not only a change of status from non-children to children, but also an elevation of social class from slavery to royal children. These adopted children are going to inherit glory from God as co-heirs with Christ. Someday in the future when the adoption is
fulfilled ultimately, the redemption of their bodies will be accomplished simultaneously, implying a dramatic transformation of the body owing to resurrection.”

A relationship with Abba Father is an indication that one is in a secure, nurturing, loving position with God. John Wesley wrote, “The spirit of bo***ge and fear is widely distant from this loving Spirit of adoption: Those who are influenced only by slavish fear, cannot be termed "the sons of God;" yet some of them may be styled his servants, and are "not far from the kingdom of heaven." Released from the spirit of bo***ge which is the condition of a fearful slave who does not have power over his own life. Fear has torment. God’s perfect love casts out fear. The Holy Spirit witnesses with one’s own spirit that they are God’s own beloved child, with His own Spirit dwelling in them.
God, who is Love, wants the best for His children. His love covers shame and creates wholeness and healing. God’s love doesn’t hold a person’s past against them. The compassion of God forgives and cleanses the person. Psalm 103:13 says, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.”
Receiving God as Father is a Trinitarian effort. Through the Spirit of adoption humanity is invited into this sacred relationship, becoming God’s own children. The Holy Spirit enables persons to cry out, Abba Father. Galatians 4:6 says, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father!”

KEY TERMS: Define any crucial terms that are foundational to your project.
1. Adoption: The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services defines adoption as the social, emotional, and legal process in which children who will not be raised by their birth parents become full and permanent legal members of another family while maintaining genetic and psychological connections to their birth family.

2. Spirit of Adoption: A Trinitarian work of grace by which the Holy Spirit dwells within a Christian confirming them as a member of God's family, releasing them from the slavish bo***ge of sin, and empowering them to freely live in Christ as God’s one of God’s beloved children.

3. Father absence: The term father absence denotes having a non-resident father during childhood.

4. Fatherlessness: Having no father because he is dead or absent from the home.

PROPOSED TIMETABLE: This section is often presented as a table with columns for the phases of research, the beginning date, the ending date of each phase, and the description/details. This schedule is tentative and subject to adjustment.

RESEARCH PHASE
BEGIN DATE
END DATE
DESCRIPTION
August 14, 2023 Submit Second Proposal
October 31, 2023 Submit Third Proposal
December 4, 2023 Submit Fourth Proposal
January 19, 2024 Proposal Revisions
Proposal Acceptance
Research Chap 1 Write Chapter One:
Literature Review
Research Chap 2 Write Chapter Two
Run Four Week Seminar
Write Appendices Evaluate surveys, interviews, and additional materials
Submit Project

CONTRIBUTION TO MINISTRY
The need for an effective discipleship method, along with the immense number of casualties from the pandemic of fatherlessness, necessitates a fresh model of spiritual formation that can attract and transform future Christians. Christian leaders will be reminded to create a balance between their public ministries and their home ministry. This project will demonstrate how developing intimacy with Abba Father brings reconciliation and healing.

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