[tentblogger-youtube xks-B9o9ZMQ]

I was recently asked to review the Spiritual Parenting DVD series by Dr. Michelle Anthony and published by David C. Cook.  Spiritual Parenting is a six part series geared towards parents who wish to parent their children in a Godly way.

Dr. Michelle Anthony is Pastor of Family Ministries at ROCKHARBOR Church in Costa Mesa, California. A former professor at Biola University and Talbot School of Theology, Dr. Anthony has written over a dozen resources for Christian Education and Family / Youth Ministries. She is also the Family Ministry Architect for David C. Cook. Michelle and her husband, Michael, have two children and live in Orange County, California.

What I liked:

The DVDs are well produced.  Even though each session is actually just a talk Dr. Anthony is giving to an audience, multiple camera angles and some video work help to break up the monotony.

The message is inspiring.  Instead of feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, I felt encouraged after watching the talks.  I feel like I can actual be a spiritual parent.  (Even though I am a pastor, these things scare me.  I fear that I will fail my children in this area.)  Dr. Anthony frees us from some of the misconceptions about what our job is as parents and puts the focus where it should be, on God as the spiritual father.

What I didn’t care for:

The videos are too long for my tastes.  Each session is about an hour, not counting any time for activities.  Though there is a lot of great content, the practical use of the DVDs is what would be difficult.  You could use these in some sort of parenting class, but six one-hour sessions (plus time for the included exercises) would be hard to fit into what most churches are already doing.  Video driven curriculums are not my learning style, so I naturally shy away from them as a teaching element.

Final Thoughts:

I recommend this product with slight reservation.  I wouldn’t say to go out and buy it until you have a strategy for how best to use it.  If you plan to just make it available for parents to borrow, how are you going to make sure they know it is there?  Once your strategy for how to use this program is in place and if it aligns with you church’s vision (and I don’t know how equipping parents wouldn’t be in your church’s vision) then this would be an excellent resource to have on hand.

David C. Cook is giving away one copy of Spiritual Parenting on their Facebook page on May 6.

If you would like to purchase Spiritual Parenting, you can do so on Amazon, Christian Book, or on David C. Cook’s website.

Disclaimer: I received access to the videos for purposes of this review.  I did not receive a physical copy of this product.  I have worked to maintain an objective review of these materials and the opinions in this review are solely mine.