Recovering childhood

From an excellent article on the Christianity Today web site:

Another challenge to building a successful divorce recovery program lies in ministering to its youngest casualties. An estimated 32% of American youngsters live in single-parent or blended-family households.

"We aim to teach our children two things in our children's divorce recovery program: It's not your fault. And you're not alone," says Rev. Mark Skalberg, singles pastor at Woodmen Valley Chapel in Colorado Springs, Colo. (woodmenvalley.org). "Those things seem obvious to adults, but all children feel they're at fault, and that there's no one else like them."

Many churches that begin offering divorce recovery to adults quickly recognize the peripheral effects of the split on children. And it generally isn't long before they add a children's program.

Woodmen Valley's children's recovery program openly discusses divorce. But the church believes there's also value in simply offering a safe, quiet place for youngsters to get away from a sometimes volatile or stress-laden home environment. Games and craft projects that may appear inconsequential to outsiders can powerfully impact children, who relish the interaction with similarly situated peers in a calm and loving environment.