12 Books to Read that Will Help You "Take Up the Cause of the Fatherless..." (Isaiah 1:17)
If you desire to learn more about Fatherlessness and many of its related issues, I have compiled a list of 12 books that have been extremely helpful in shaping UTM's ministry philosophy and strategy for breaking the cycle of fatherlessness and strengthening families in Christ.
Bradley, Anthony B. Ending Overcriminalization and Mass Incarceration: Hope from Civil Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Rooted in the beliefs of Imago Dei and Christian Personalism, Bradley grapples with America’s criminal justice crisis of overcriminalization and mass incarceration, including how it attacks society's central social structure: the family. Bradley offers hope by pointing to proven solutions for reforming America’s criminal justice system.
Father Facts. (2024) 9th Edition. Philadelphia PA. The leading resource in book form that reports the latest evidence-based research on America’s crisis of absent fathers and the importance of strengthening fatherhood.
Farrell, Warren, and John Gray. The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling And What We Can Do About It. Dallas: BennBella Books, 2019. The authors provide extensive, alaming data on boys, including those who grow up with less-involved fathers and urges society not to “throw out the boys with the bathwater.” They also offer many practical solutions by intentionally strengthening boys so that they become good fathers.
Henderson, Rob. Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class. New York: Gallery Books, 2024. This must-read memoir follows the life of a foster kid who was adopted but grew up without a father, joined the US Air Force, went to Yale, then Cambridge to eventually became a social scientist scholar and writer. From his diversity of experience and scholarship, Henderson conceived the concept of luxury beliefs, “an idea or opinion that confers status on members of the upper class at little cost while inflicting costs on persons in lower classes.”
King, Robin Wright. Papa Was a Rolling Stone: A Daughter’s Journey to Forgiveness. Iowa: Read4Life Books, 2007. A heartbreaking memoir from a woman’s perspective who recounts the pain, anger, and negative impact of growing up with an absent father and her struggle to forgive him eventually.
Kearney, Mellisa S. The Two-Parent Privilege. How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2023. Kearney, an MIT-trained economist, challenges modern relativistic thinking about families. Through well-researched evidence, she concludes that the two-parent marriage is the most economically and socially healthy structure for children.
Perkins, John M. Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993. This Perkins classic draws attention to pressing urban issues such as poverty, violence, racism, and single-parent family structures. It lays out a Christian Community Development solution, which has played a crucial role in strengthening and stabilizing families trapped in poverty.
Sowers, John. Fatherless Generation: Redeeming the Story. Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2010. Part memoir, Sowers exposes the underbelly of the cultural epidemic of fatherlessness while providing a blueprint for the faith community to follow to help bring change.
Strong, Mark F. Church For the Fatherless: A Ministry Model For Society’s Most Pressing Problem. Downers Grove, IVP, 2012. This invaluable resource tangibly shows how the church can show neighborly love by wholistically ministering to the fatherless to become godly fathers.
Walker, Dawn, and Matt Haviland. The Daddy Gap. Grand Rapids, Wesbow/Zondervan, 2014. A valuable resource on the subject of fatherlessness. Plenty of data & stories of how fatherlessness negatively affects society, while offering solutions for how churches can make a difference. Written also to provide social and emotional help for those growing up without a father.
Watson, Benjamin, with Carol Traver. The New Fight For Life: Roe, Race, & a Pro-Life Commitment to Justice. Carol Stream: Tyndale Momentum, 2023. With the overturning of Roe vs. Wade coinciding with America becoming more and more pro-choice, the authors present a much-needed Biblical whole-life pro-life perspective, especially since abortion has been a final, viable solution that elites promote in solving the issue of fatherlessness.
Weeks, Christopher J. Boys Will Be Men: A Guys Guide To Fatherhood. Grand Rapids: Self-Published, 2021. The author stresses the importance of fatherhood through stories and lessons from his experiences growing up with a strong, loving role model of a Dad