About the Book

Book: Unison Parenting: The Comprehensive Guide to Navigating Christian Parenthood with One Voice

Author: Cecil Taylor

Genre: Parenting/Family, more specifically Christian Parenting

Release date: September 17, 2024

Singing in unison is when all voices sing the same note, at the same time, to emphasize the text. Similarly, families need to parent in unison to emphasize the message they want to send to their children.

Cecil Taylor uses his personal parenting experience, and those of the families he’s taught and ministered to over decades, to create unique foundational strategies for unison parenting within a Christian context. Learn how to stay on the same page throughout the trials of parenting, provide children with a solid faith foundation, and balance loving nature with firm boundaries to create a warm, stable environment where the child and parent can eventually collaborate to bring the child to full, responsible adulthood.

Whether in a traditional or nontraditional family structure, Unison Parenting leads parents through the ages and stages of childhood into mature adulthood. Additionally, Cecil lays out parenting fundamentals to manage your child’s growing need for independence during their teen years, while gradually building trust through incremental decision-making.

Click here to get your copy!

Author Interview

Why did you choose to write about this particular topic?
I’ve been passionate about our children for a long time; I spent thirty years in youth ministry at
my church and taught parenting classes for fifteen years. Eventually those experiences led to a
book.
In addition, most of us want to contribute to society and make the world a better place. This is a
tangible way that I can help families and indirectly make the world a better place.

What types of research do you do?
It depends on the type of book. For this parenting book, I was very confident in the material due
to my aforementioned background. However, I wanted to make sure the material was current,
and I wanted to add voices to give more weight and authority than my own reasoning and
experience.
As a result, I researched two broadly defined types of sources: purely academic and relational.
The academic sources could speak to statistics, trends, and research studies. The relational
sources could lean on observation and experience.
My other works have been Christian living books, so I study and ponder the Bible and scriptural
interpretations. For Unison Parenting, I did research the Bible and used a number of key
passages; every chapter starts with a scripture-based devotional. But the Bible isn’t strictly
written to be a detailed parenting book, especially given that the families of our time face
different challenges than the families back then.

How long does the researching stage usually take?
In my experience, it might take two to three months to research sufficiently before beginning to
write. But the research never stops. I sometimes research while writing the very last
paragraphs, as new ideas and questions come to mind.

Was there anything you found particularly interesting while researching?
One of the eye-catching statistics you’ll find in Unison Parenting is that 46% of U.S. children live
in households that are considered traditional: Man + Woman + First Marriage. That means the
majority of children live in what are considered non-traditional families.
I use the term “parenting partners” because all kinds of combinations exist. The “Collective
Parenting” chapter is devoted to issues of those families in particular.
I believe I should write and give advice in light of reality. For this book, it doesn’t matter to me
how people arrived at the family arrangements they have. I want all my readers to become great
parents producing great children, because that’s what the world needs.

Do you have any usual writing habits?
I do like to have a certain environment. It may look messy, but when I know where everything is,
and it’s all close by, then it’s organized. I may or may not want music as I write; it depends on
my stress level (give me music) and my concentration level (keep it quiet if I’m on a roll).
For books, I tend to only write two to four hours per day. Writing a book is very intense and soul-
pouring, so I find it takes a lot out of me. I can get fried by the effort. For other writing outputs, I
can write for a longer period.
I’m doing more and more to outline before I write. I’ve always done that for books, but I’m
starting to do it as well for blogs and articles.

About the Author

With more than 30 years’ experience as an adult Sunday School teacher and as many in youth ministry, Cecil Taylor has impacted lives in local churches throughout his adult life. He founded Cecil Taylor Ministries to broaden that impact, teaching Christians to live a 7-day practical faith through books, video studies, and speaking engagements. His ministry is cross-denominational, focused on the common struggle Christians face in putting their faith into practice and applying scripture and faith principles to life situations.

Cecil has written three previous books, all of which have been awarded across international, national, and regional contests. For each book, Cecil has created a study guide, a video study, and downloadable free leader guides.

More from Cecil

Would you like to know the surefire, guaranteed way to get your teen to open up and talk to you? You’ll find it in my new book, Unison Parenting: The Comprehensive Guide to Navigating Christian Parenthood with One Voice.

Unison Parenting is the culmination of my fifteen years leading parenting classes in my church, my thirty years of youth ministry, and my raising of three children (one adopted) to adulthood. I taught and tested the parenting advice with seven hundred families that attended my classes, so I am convinced the structure and tips you’ll find in the book are well-proven.

One of those tips is how to get your teen to talk to you. I have never had anyone return to me to say that the technique doesn’t work; in fact, they laughingly complain that the technique works too well, and they can’t get their teen to stop talking!

An overarching theme of the book is, of course, getting and staying in unison as parents, but not only as parents – as a family. Another way to put it is a spirit of collaboration. You begin building this collaboration when the children are young, and as they grow, you expand the collaboration to partner with them on the common goal of helping them become mature adults who make good decisions.

I can tell you from experience that the collaborating spirit of such a family continues into adulthood, fostering solid on-going relationships and a desire for family community, even across distance.

This is not to say that my wife and I were perfect, nor that our children were perfect. We all made regrettable mistakes along the way. Our learnings, plus the positive and negative experiences of families I encountered over decades, will help you avoid pitfalls as you create a unison atmosphere among parenting partners and with your children.