The Family Life Cycle Young Adulthood Beginning Family
The Family Life Cycle • • Young Adulthood Beginning Family – New Couple Childbearing Family – Preschool Children Family with School Age Children Family with Adolescents Launching Family – Young Adults Family in Later Life
Young Adulthood • Leaving home • Intimate relationships with peers • Establishing self in worklife, career, vocation • Explore faith on own and with peers
Beginning Family – New Couple • Adjusting to roles of husband wife • Realigning relationships with family of origin & friends to include spouse • Learning to worship, pray together
Childbearing Family – Preschool Children • Accepting new members and adjusting the marital relationship • Spouses become parents • Beginning family traditions and faith rituals
Family with School Age Children • Adjust roles and responsibilities as children enter school • Relating to other families and differing ideas • Developing faith traditions, passing on values
Family with Adolescents • Maintaining structure while allowing greater independence • Teens give more time, significance to peers • Deeper questioning of faith, church
Launching Family – Young Adults • Developing adult-adult relationships • Exits and entries into family system • New relationships as children establish families
Family in Later Life • Empty nest through retirement • Loss of relatives and friends • Adjusting to physical limitations • New opportunities in society and church
Diverse Paths in the Family Life Cycle • • • Divorce and separated families Death of family member Single parenthood Remarriage and blended family Poverty and hardship Immigration and migration
Ministry and the Family Life Cycle • Families at each stage have different needs and challenges • Transitions in family life are occasions for stress, re-negotiation, learning, and grace • As families negotiate the tasks of each stage, opportunities for faith growth open up
The Family Life Cycle • • Young Adulthood Beginning Family – New Couple Childbearing Family – Preschool Children Family with School Age Children Family with Adolescents Launching Family – Young Adults Family in Later Life
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