Portland observer., January 16, 2013, 2013 special edition, Page 6, Image 6

Page 6
lì
vi)
M
L u t h e r K in g J r .
a r t in
January 16, 2013
2013 sp e c ia f e o i l i on
Ministering the Fatherless
Pastor is living example of
work for the human family
by
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
PHOTO BY CARI HACHM ANN/THE PORTLAND OBSERVER
Seeing fatherlessness affect so many families and young people in
the church and community, Rev. Mark Strong created a passion, or a
burden within him to address the problem. The Life Change Christian
Center pastor has written a book, “Church for the Fatherless, ” and
gears his ministry as a model for one o f society’s most pressing
problems.
Fifty years after the Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. spoke about the solidar­
ity of the human family, Portland Pastor
Dr. Mark Strong is a testament of the
late civil rights leader’s passion to heal
and mentor the fatherless.
Not long after a dilapidated grocery
store on North Williams Avenue be­
came a new church, the Life Change
C h ristia n C e n ter, S tro n g re a liz e d
fatherlessness was a growing epidemic
in the community.
The pastor was holding hands in prayer
with a number of community leaders
when he looked up at the circle of famil­
iar faces around him. He began to
mutter in his mind, “No father, no father,
no fath er...”
Fifteen of the 20 faces before him,
whether they were 20 or 60-years old,
white or black, had grown up without an
active father figure in their lives, “T hat’s
a problem,” he remembers thinking.
At the time, Strong was writing his
doctoral thesis on how to improve inner
city leadership, but that night he shifted
his focus to an issue he saw that held
greater magnitude. His thesis eventu­
ally became his book, “Church for the
Fatherless,” a ministry model for one of
society’s most pressing problems.
According to the National Center for
Fathering, an estimated 24 million chil­
dren (33 percent of the adolescent popu­
lation) live in a home without their bio­
logical father. Further, 63 percent of
black children, 35 percent o f Hispanic
children, and 28 percent o f white chil­
dren are living in homes absent their
biological father.
“Seeing fatherlessness affect so many
families and young people in the church
and community created a passion, or a
burden within me to address the prob­
lem,” said Strong, who earned his doc-
continued
on page 38
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
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