Father's House Blog

            Last year I was called up for jury service for the first time, at the tender age of 48. For many years I had managed to get away with avoiding the call because I was a Vicar. But then the law was changed and I found myself invited to a crown court not far from where I lived. I remember going rather reluctantly because of the inconvenience to my schedule. I came back after two weeks very glad that I’d been.

            My abiding memory of the two cases that my fellow jury members and I had to adjudicate was this. Both of the accused were young males from a local town. Both had been charged with violence and other forms of unruly behaviour. Both had mums in court. But neither of them had dads anywhere in evidence. In the end, both were convicted and, as it turned out, our ‘guilty’ verdicts were vindicated by a long list of antecedents (previous cases of criminal behaviour).  Indeed, there was a certain amount of gloating in both juries. People were saying, ‘we got it right’. But I was left asking the question, ‘where are all the dads?’

            A few months later I found myself in the town where the two boys lived. I was at an afternoon tea party in support of a local charity. A lady came to sit next to me who turned out to be the Mayor. We started talking and she asked what I was doing. I replied that I was about to move to her area to begin a charity dedicated to reversing the pandemic of fatherlessness – a charity called The Father’s House. I told her about my jury service and the two fatherless boys from her town. She was immediately engaged and replied with two statements that stuck with me. First of all she insisted that we meet as soon as I moved so that we could partner in alleviating the great social ill of fatherlessness. The second thing she said was that she had been speaking to her male police officers and they had very recently told her that they now feel that in their dealings with troubled youngsters on the streets they are performing a role that traditionally belonged to the father of the family. In the great vacuum of fatherlessness, policemen are now often providing both the authority and affection that dads should be showing. But the dads are no longer around. Britain is now fatherless. Indeed, as some public figures are now reminding us, we live in what has been dubbed ‘Broken Britain’, and the absence of fathers is a big reason for our social fragmentation.

            Not long ago a prison chaplain decided to offer the 500 male prisoners in his prison the opportunity to say thank you to their Mums. Mothering Sunday was approaching and the chaplain thought it would be good to give each prisoner the option of a free Mother’s Day card to sign and send, free of charge, to their mothers.  The offer was accepted by every single one of the prisoners.

            The chaplaincy team was so encouraged by the response that they started planning for Father’s Day. In May they offered the same 500 prisoners the same option – this time a free card to sign and send to their father, saying thank you.

            Not one of the prisoners accepted the offer.

            Not one card was sent.

            This poignant story vividly illustrates the point that no one can now run away from. Fatherlessness is responsible for the pathology of most of our social ills, from criminal behaviour to gender confusion. For about a century – certainly since the time of the First World War – there has been a demonic assault against fatherhood in the world. This has created a social disease that is by no means confined to Britain. It is now in fact a global pandemic. Everywhere I travel, from the United States to Uganda, from Sweden to Singapore, the disease is pervasive and spreading. Fathers are becoming an endangered species. Soon they may even be extinct, and the consequences for the world are already devastating.

            If it's time for anything it's time for a Father Heart Reformation - a Reformation of the church around the revelation of God as the Perfect Dad, and a resulting Reformation of society based on the restoration of fatherhood in family life. It's time for a fundamental recalibration of the way we think and the way we behave. It's time for the prodigal fathers to come back home.

   Please partner with us in praying and working to that end. The primary demonic principality in the world today is fatherlessness. Somewhere, someone needs to do something to start reversing this curse. The Father's House Trust is a small group of people committed to doing just that. Jesus turned the world upside down with a small group of committed people. We want to do the same, and in his name too.