Description:
There has never been a more important time to find meaningful and acceptable ways of passing on faith from one generation to the next. Part of this privilege and responsibility lies with grandparents who live authentic Christian lives. They can be the vital link between the gospel and the faith of a younger generation.
Faithful Grandparents is a visionary call to an older generation to take the initiative with courage and wisdom, humour and prayer.
Brief description: Anita Cleverly has over 35 years' experience as a church leader alongside her husband, Charlie, most recently at St Aldates Church, Oxford, following ten years in inner-city Paris. She is a spiritual director, bereavement counsellor and international speaker, and is on the board of the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. She is passionate about her grandchildren.
Review Quotes:
Faithful Grandparents is aimed at the new or expectant grandparent who has faith but perhaps is looking for a road map of topics that may come up. It is wonderful food for thought in preparation for those important and sometimes difficult conversations about big things that come up with a grandchild. It has warmth, authenticity and humility, as well as some really useful ideas about how you might go about talking about moral issues with the generation that in some ways you will have more quality time with than you had with your own children.
Judith Holder, author and TV producer
This book is full of rich wisdom, humour, practical ideas, biblical teaching and cultural understanding. Anita brings some wonderful insights from Old Testament stories and relates them to today's generation. It does not avoid the pain and struggle of being a grandparent but draws on stories from different sources showing us ways to enrich and shape the lives of our grandchildren in creative ways. Anita is inspirational in calling us to pass the baton of faith on to the next generation. We loved this book. It challenged us, made us laugh and stirred our hearts to bless our grandchildren in ways that can have far-reaching consequences.
Canon John Hughes, former rector of St John's Harborne and chaplain to Open Doors, and Annie Hughes, spiritual director and chaplain to Open Doors
I began reading a book about grandparenting and ended realising that Anita had taken me on a journey of the soul. Wise, funny, profound and beautifully written - I pray it will bless each of my grandchildren through the changes it brings in me.
Rob Parsons OBE, founder and chairman, Care for the Family
This book is an eloquent and persuasive call for grandparents to understand and step into the hugely influential role they can play in the lives of their grandchildren. Beautifully written and full of wisdom and self-deprecating humour, Faithful Grandparents is essential reading for all current and prospective grandparents desiring to nurture the faith of the newest generation.
Jo Swinney, Director of Church Communications, CPO, and author of Home: The quest to belong
Anita's book clearly sets out these challenges of grandparenting against the backdrop of our present culture and, by suggesting that the onus is on us to build those relationships, gives us permission to seek out and explore how best we each might develop lasting, loving links. With lovely examples from seasoned grandparents, scriptural insights and the reminder of the grace of God infused throughout these relationships, Anita offers us a "can do" approach which is as affirming as it is challenging.
Caroline Welby
After more than 30 years working with married couples, we have seen (and experienced for ourselves) some of the challenges grandparents face. Drawing on her own and others' stories and the wisdom of the Bible, Anita helps us to reflect honestly on the journey so far and how we can continue to do this well.
Liz and David Percival, directors of 2-in-2-1