CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Good Grandparenting" is Mosaic Television's Sept. 1 release, a 30-minute program that examines today's grandparenting roles in a faith context.
Mosaic Television is a quarterly video program produced by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) through the church's Department for Communication. It is intended for educational use in a variety of congregational settings including Sunday school classes, adult forums, youth groups, women's and men's groups, new member classes, church council meetings, committee meetings and other organizational meetings.
The program includes discussion on the attributes of grandparenting, how faith plays a role in being a grandparent, and how grandparents can use their talents to influence their grandchildren positively.
"Nearly 60 million Americans are over the age of 55, and grandparenting roles once modeled by their grandparents have changed dramatically," said Tim P. Frakes, Mosaic Television producer, ELCA Department for Communication.
Because Americans are living longer, divorce rates are up and there are more single parent homes, new roles have emerged for grandparents as primary care givers, Frakes said. For example, older adults sometimes fulfill non-biological grandparenting roles by being "surrogate" grandparents, he said.
"Four million grandparents are primarily responsible for raising their grandchildren," Frakes said, yet some grandparents are legally prevented from seeing or even contacting their grandchildren, he said.
"Good Grandparenting" includes interviews with a variety of people. Several grandparents and great-grandparents share their experiences in the program, as do family ministry professionals, legal experts and staff of a special camp for grandparents and their grandchildren at Shetek Lutheran Ministries, Slayton, Minn.
Mosaic Television is available in VHS and DVD formats. Some ELCA colleges and universities carry Mosaic on local cable channels.
Each issue includes a user's guide with a synopsis of each segment and discussion questions. Annual subscriptions are available through the ELCA Department for Communication.
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Specific information about Mosaic Television subscriptions and the content of each issue are available on the Web at http://www.elca.org/mosaic/ or by contacting the ELCA Department for Communication by phone at 1-800-638-3522, ext. 6009.
Editors: Digital photographs that accompany "Good Grandparenting" can be requested by e-mail at mosaic@elca.org or by phone 1-800-638-3522, ext. 6009.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
