Father Wounds in Black Christian Women: Their Effects on Identity and Perception of God As Father
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Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations 2-2020 Father Wounds in Black Christian Women: Their Effects on Identity and Perception of God as Father Lasondra Barnes Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin Part of the Christianity Commons GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY FATHER WOUNDS IN BLACK CHRISTIAN WOMEN: THEIR EFFECTS ON IDENTITY AND PERCEPTION OF GOD AS FATHER A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF PORTLAND SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY LASONDRA BARNES PORTLAND, OREGON FEBRUARY 2020 Portland Seminary George Fox University Portland, Oregon CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ________________________________ DMin Dissertation ________________________________ This is to certify that the DMin Dissertation of LaSondra Barnes has been approved by the Dissertation Committee on February 17, 2020 for the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Spiritual Formation Dissertation Committee: Primary Advisor: Carole Spencer, PhD Secondary Advisor: Valerie Crumpton, DMin Lead Mentor: MaryKate Morse, PhD Copyright © 2020 by LaSondra Barnes All rights reserved. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version of the Bible (NKJV) © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. ii To all Black women who struggled to navigate life, love, and God without the desired guidance of their fathers know that you are loved, wanted, and enough! iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. —Philippians 4:13 I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the courage and confidence to complete my dissertation. This process stretched my faith and solidified my trust and dependence on God. I would also like to express my most profound appreciation to my dissertation advisor, Dr. Carole Spencer. Your guidance and encouragement have significantly contributed to the completion of my dissertation. I cannot begin to express my thanks to my mother, Angela Cleveland. Mom, you provided nurturing love and constant emotional support throughout this tedious journey. Thank you for encouraging me to “meet every challenge,” and for the countless hours, you listened to me read over portions of my dissertation. Words cannot describe the amount of love and appreciation that I have for you. I am incredibly grateful to my siblings, Aqualia Bostic and Dwayne Barnes, for your love, unwavering support, and profound belief in my work. There were times that I questioned myself and you all surrounded me with prayers and protection. Thank you! I want to extend my sincere thanks to Pastors Mark and Marla Strong for your prayers, invaluable insight into my topic, and advice for navigating through the dissertation process. I would like to recognize the assistance that I received from Tirzah Radford for providing constructive recommendations during the editing phase. Special thanks to my friends De’Sha Wolf, Alisia Ford, Tiyanna Payne, Cherise Buchanan, Kimberly Hodge, Tiara Gay, Kyra Pappas, Felita Singleton, Michelle Lang, iv Akeylah Giles, and Janice Nehren for extending an enormous amount of encouragement, laughter, and a shoulder to lean upon, that kept me centered during this project. I love you all, and I am so happy to have friends like you. We have shared countless hours discussing various aspects of my dissertation. Thank you for all of your insight and inspiration. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 Personal Narrative of a Father-Wounded Daughter .................................................... 1 Defining the Problem ................................................................................................. 4 Father-Daughter Relationship .................................................................................... 6 Emotionally Absent Father Types .............................................................................. 8 Fatherless Woman Syndrome................................................................................... 15 Perception of God .................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS IN THE EPIDEMIC OF ABSENT BLACK FATHERS ................................................................................. 28 The Devastating Legacy of Slavery.......................................................................... 28 Poverty .................................................................................................................... 32 The Drug Epidemic ................................................................................................. 34 Mass Incarceration ................................................................................................... 38 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 43 CHAPTER 3: BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS ........................... 44 God the Father in the Old Testament ........................................................................ 44 God the Father in the New Testament ...................................................................... 51 Biblical Examples of Father-Daughter Relationships ............................................... 58 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 66 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY AND ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES ............... 67 Design of Study ....................................................................................................... 68 Findings................................................................................................................... 69 Analysis................................................................................................................... 84 Alternative Perspective ............................................................................................ 86 Feminist Theology ................................................................................................... 87 Womanist Theology ................................................................................................ 92 Proposed Solutions .................................................................................................. 97 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 98 CHAPTER 5: THESIS .................................................................................................. 99 Discovering the Father Wound ................................................................................ 99 Renouncing the Former Mindset ............................................................................ 101 Embracing God’s Fatherly Love ............................................................................ 107 Living with a Healed Heart .................................................................................... 113 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 120 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION..................................................................................... 121 vi Recommendations for Future Research .................................................................. 134 Chapter Summary .................................................................................................. 136 APPENDIX A: IRB SURVEY QUESTIONS ............................................................. 138 APPENDIX B: IRB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ........................................................ 141 APPENDIX C: CHAPTER 5 THESIS MATERIALS - DISCOVERING THE FATHER WOUND SURVEY ..................................................................................................... 145 APPENDIX D: CHAPTER 5 THESIS MATERIALS – RENOUNCING THE FORMER MINDSET ................................................................................................................... 148 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 153 vii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore the father-daughter relationships of Black Christian women, specifically, the impact emotionally and physically absent fathers have on Black Christian women’s identity and perception of God. The misfortunes of slavery, poverty, the drug epidemic, and mass incarceration fractured the African American community, dismantling the Black family, creating the absent Black father. The Fatherless Woman Syndrome identifies five distinct, yet overlapping symptoms that have psychological and social implications affecting fatherless Black women. The level of pain caused by father wounds may distort wounded daughters’ perception of God as being unreliable, inaccessible or non-existent, distant or uninvolved, authoritative, or as a harsh or mean father. An in-depth analysis of the various fatherly attributes God displayed within the context