Video of WCF IX presentations
Click here to watch YouTube video of the many fantastic presentations at World Congress of Families IX.
World Congress of Families IX Declaration
We, the delegates attending World Congress of Families IX, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, concluding this 30th of October 2015, reaffirm Article 16 section 3 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.”
We meet at a time of great challenge for individuals and families around the world. Coming from diverse religious, national, ethnic, professional and personal backgrounds, we unite at this World Congress of Families in ...
Forum: Raising Responsible Kids and Avoiding the Entitlement Trap
Our absolute last session of WCF IX was a breakout session. There were incredible topics to choose from, ranging from homeschooling, sexual exploitation, and parenting.
Authors/speakers Richard and Linda Eyre taught the parenting session. These two are such a cohesive couple who shared so much advice that this summary couldn’t even begin to cover it all.
Prioritize your kids during the time they are in the home, the Eyres counseled. They encouraged parents to give their kids ownership of certain things because that is the antidote to entitlement. Another piece of ...
Closing Ceremonies of WCF IX
This week has been an overwhelming experience for all who attended. We have seen courageous individuals of all ages, all ethnicities, and all backgrounds come together to join in the important work of building the family.
In this beautiful closing session, we thanked the people who consecrated their time and efforts to putting this event together, and we found out the location for the next World Congress of Families: Tbilisi, Georgia!
We will end with this quote by Stan Swim: “Our work together has just begun!”
Plenary Session: Stephanie Nielson – Happily Ever After
Stephanie Nielson started with a love story -- her own. She knew from a young age that what she wanted the most was to be a mother. When she met her husband, it was apparent to both of them that they would be married. They had the same values and desires for their lives. After seven beautiful years together and several children, they were in a plane crash. They were both badly burned and were in comas for months.
Stephanie explained her feelings of despair and feeling that she looked like a monster. Through these times, she gained hope and recognized the need to not ...
Plenary Panel: What Laws and Policies Best Protect Life and the Family
The first speaker at this first session of the last day of WCF IX was Evan Lenow, an assistant professor of ethics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He spoke of religious liberty and the history of this important right. He pointed out the risk of failing religious liberty on topics such as education, marriage, abortion, and euthanasia. He ended his speech with the assertion that “religious liberty sets forth the foundation on which we can build the best pro-life and pro-family public policy.”
Bill Norton from the National Center for Constitutional ...
Roundtable: Pro-Family and Pro-Life Victories at the United Nations
Thursday afternoon’s roundtable was occupied by four accomplished women: Sharon Slater from Family Watch International; Lynn Walsh, director of Marriage and Family Peace Initiative and Co-Chair UN NGO Committee on the Family; Theresa Okafor from the Foundation for African Cultural Heritage in Nigeria; and Susan Yoshihara from the Center for Family & Human Rights (C-Fam). Austin Ruse, president of C-Fam, was the moderator.
In this open discussion, these women taught us about what happens at the United Nations. They explained the process of implementing treaties and ...
Plenary Panel: Marriage, Economics, and Poverty
Matters got technical in our final Thursday morning plenary session. Pat Fagan drew the connection between religious worship and successful societies. Study after study showed that “worship impacts chastity, chastity impacts marriage, marriage impacts personal well-being, and personal well-being impacts society.”
Jason Carroll analyzed more research on marriage trends and articulated the argument for marriage. He said the median age of marriage is higher than the median age of child-bearing – which means that marriage is not just delayed, but re-sequenced. He ...
Plenary Panel: Assessing Damage and Restoring Family Values
Starting off an exciting session, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said, “The family doesn’t come from the agenda of the donkey or the agenda of the elephant, but from the agenda of the lamb.” Apathy is not an option because, in his words, “Today’s complacency is tomorrow’s captivity.”
The call to protect these freedoms continued with Dr. Paige Patterson, president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He spoke powerfully about the First Amendment and the violations of the soul that ...
Plenary Panel: Personal, Family and Cultural Casualties from the Decline of Faith
Father Josiah Trenham, pastor at St. Andrew Orthodox Christian Church, spoke Thursday morning on the value of human life and the tragedy of abortion. He taught of the nature of God and the nature of man, explaining, “A human being can’t be described apart from his or her heavenly orientation.”
The session continued with Marlene Peterson, who spoke tenderly on motherhood. She said a mother has a divine gift to help her child learn to love greatly. She personally and thoughtfully challenged us to tell stories to our children as a way to cultivate this love.
The ...