New Wine - Local churches changing nations

WHAT IS FAMILY TIME?

A collection of resources providing tools, practical advice and support to parents of children and teenagers. The aim is to empower parents to move from simply surviving family life to being proactive in leading families that are not only strong in themselves but also seek to make a difference in the communities in which they live. Family Time is based on Christian principles, and aims to equip and envision every parent, whether Christian or not, to deal with the many issues they come up against in family life.

Running a course

The Family Time courses present churches with a unique opportunity to build bridges into local communities and meet parents at their point of need. They're ideal for use in your local church or school, or anywhere else where you have a community of parents. A typical evening begins with a talk, followed by refreshments and then discussion groups. All the course material is free to download, but you are encouraged to take some time to plan each session in advance, incorporating your own examples and experiences.

Course material

Advertising your course

Packs of invitations and posters are available to buy, which will help you advertise your course. They provide space to enter times, dates and contact details, and also include a generic application form. The invitations also give an overview of a typical course. They are all available from New Wine Direct.

Resources

Pioneered by Mark and Lindsay Melluish, Family Time was first launched as a book in 1999. This was republished Family Time: Parenting Children in 2007, and the 6-week course was released on DVD in November 2009. Family Time: Parenting Teenagers is also a six-session course available as a book as well as on DVD. It was developed by Paul and Christine Perkin and provides an opportunity for parents to connect with other parents facing similar issues through the teenage years.

Visit the Shop to find out more about each product.

The Handbook

This is for delegates to use throughout the course. Each chapter accompanies one of the sessions of the course, providing all you need to work through the issues raised by the course and accompanying book, including exercises, scenarios and discussion points.

The DVD

All 6 sessions are available to buy on DVD. This takes the pressure off small groups or busy parents to plan and prepare the talks for every session - just press play! You can gather parents together informally, over coffee or after a meal and watch at your leisure. It's an interactive resource with individual and group exercises and scenarios to stimulate discussion. It's also an ideal way for parents to draw families in the community into a non-threatening Christian environment. Just £24.99.

The Book

This mines the wisdom that comes to us from the Bible, exploring in a practical way how we can raise our children within the framework of God's liberating, unconditional love. The focus is on the family as a whole: how we relate to one another, as well as how we relate to those around us. It covers all six sessions of the course, offering parents of children and teenagers insightful and practical help. £6.99 each

TraIning

There is an annual conference for people interested in running either the Parenting Children or Parenting Teenagers course in their local church or community. This year's event was on 19 March 2011; details of the next event will be available in the Autumn.

CONTACT

If you have any further questions about Family Time, please email Cathy Webber at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone 020 8579 9370.

Don't forget to register your Family Time course with us. We'd love to keep you up to date with any news, conferences and new products, as well as advertising your course on the Family Time website. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Family Time Feedback

About the Parenting Children course...

'Brilliant, enjoyable. I thought it would be a long time but it flew by. I would recommend this course to all parents of young, and older, children'

'I feel I have been given a gift of a very full tool kit to use for the rest of my life'

'An excellent course. It gave us lots of food for thought and also made us more confident'

'This course has given a real sense of direction for our own lives as well as the way we parent our children'

About the book...

'A splendid book for families everywhere: full of wise, thoughtful advice and practical ideas on the art of parenting that really work!' Lyndon and Celia Bowring, CARE

'Of all the books available on family life Mark and Lindsay's is the best I've read! They provide practical, biblical encouragement to all those seeking to make a good family great.' Mike Breen

About the Parenting Teenagers course...

'It gave us fresh hope and motivation to reconnect with our teenager.'

'The course allowed us to be real about our struggles.'

'After our first classic teenage confrontation, we referred back in desperation to the handbook. It all began to make sense! It was so helpful to remind each other how we might handle it differently next time.'

‘It was such a relief to realise that we shared similar experiences with other parents of teenagers – we weren’t the only ones!’

'Thank God for this course - it will amuse, motivate, inspire and equip. We wish we'd had this before we started parenting our teenagers!' Killy and J John

'We piloted this course and it has made a huge impact – we highly recommend it to you and your church' Mark and Karen Bailey

About the book...

‘We enthusiastically recommend this book for anyone who has anything to do with the wonderful world of teenagers. It covers the whole gamut of issues facing parents with honesty, wit and wisdom.’ Lyndon and Celia Bowring CARE

‘This will be a God-send to many parents who are bringing up their teenage children and feel they could do the job a little better!’ Andrew and Katherine Cornes