Restoring and Strengthening Father-Child Relationships in the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod

This dissertation project provides Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod fathers with a six-stage fatherhood enrichment course designed to guide a father as he systematically evaluates his past, present and future father-child relationships.

The evaluative process utilized the traditional LCMS Law-Gospel hermeneutic paradigm and emphasized the centrality of Word and Sacrament Ministry as the only means for any Biblical restoration and strengthening of father-child relationships.

It is asserted that much of the confusion surrounding the contemporary Christian Church's teachings about fathering principles and practices is the result of the mixing of the two distinctively unique Biblical messages called the Law and the Gospel. An LCMS father must learn to sharply distinguish between the Law and the Gospel in order to understand Biblical fathering principles and practices.

The evaluative stages are based on six selected attributes of God: life, knowledge, truth, wisdom, power and love. It is demonstrated that the proper understanding and application of these six principles will result in sustained and consistent Christ-centered fathering practices toward a child expressed in thought, word and action.