--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The church has been under-fathered and…" description: "\"The church has been under-fathered and over-mothered.\" — Matt Redman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/matt-redman-17591_church_the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-o_2601193.png" --- # The church has been under-fathered and over-mothered. ![“The church has been under-fathered and over-mothered.” quote by Matt Redman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/matt-redman-17591_church_the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-o_2601193.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/matt-redman-17591_church_the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-o_2601193.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/matt-redman-17591_church_the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-o_2601193.png) > “The church has been under-fathered and over-mothered.” [Matt Redman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-redman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The church lacks strong leadership and is overly coddled, leading to stagnation. **In simple terms:** Church needs firm guidance, not overprotective care. Key Takeaway Balance authority with nurturing. Themes leadership community balance Mood reflective concerned Type advisory inspirational When to use this quote - church governance - volunteer management - faith community development - leadership training Key Concepts ecclesiology authority dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How can leaders provide firm guidance without alienating members? - What signs show a community is over‑mothered? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on protection can stifle growth and initiative. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [Rumor ... often is fathered and mothered by false reports.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-norton/rumor-often-is-fathered-and-mothered-by-false-reports/) [Andre Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-norton/) > [I think in today's society we are dealing with an epidemic of fatherless homes. We're turning everywhere else for people to be fathered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-mineo/i-think-in-today-s-society-we-are-dealing-with-an-epidemic-of/) [Andy Mineo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-mineo/) > [“Number of children fathered got little enough to do with being a good daddy.’ - Louisa Mae Cardinal”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baldacci/number-of-children-fathered-got-little-enough-to-do-with-being-a-good/) [David Baldacci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baldacci/) > ['Hannity' had a a guy on that said, 'I fathered 20 kids by 14 mothers.' That is s cultural issue which has demeaned our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foster-friess/hannity-had-a-a-guy-on-that-said-i-fathered-20-kids-by-14-mothers/) [Foster Friess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foster-friess/) > [Failing to support children one has fathered is wrong. We must be unequivocal about this. It doesnt help matters when prime-time TV has Murphy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-quayle/failing-to-support-children-one-has-fathered-is-wrong-we-must-be/) [Dan Quayle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-quayle/) > [Far from the truth lay the antique assumption that man had fathered the weapon. The weapon, instead, had fathered man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ardrey/far-from-the-truth-lay-the-antique-assumption-that-man-had-fathered/) [Robert Ardrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ardrey/) > [The family circle has widened. 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When I was kid, I mothered my younger brother. I mothered my parents and even my boyfriends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sushmita-sen/i-have-always-been-a-mother-when-i-was-kid-i-mothered-my-younger/) [Sushmita Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sushmita-sen/) > [Mother' is not just about the physical mother but the fact of needing to be mothered, needing to have something that surrounded me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldie/mother-is-not-just-about-the-physical-mother-but-the-fact-of-needing/) [Goldie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldie/) > [I don't have this sort of checklist of things that have to be done, andif they're not checked, then I've failed some part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-aniston/i-don-t-have-this-sort-of-checklist-of-things-that-have-to-be-done/) [Jennifer Aniston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-aniston/) > [The women in the room chatted about love, about childhood, about losing parents, about Mr. Spock, about good books they'd read. They mothered each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-penny/the-women-in-the-room-chatted-about-love-about-childhood-about-losing/) [Louise Penny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-penny/) > [They looked as if nothing had ever touched them--all well-mothered, protected, with a soft sheen of contentment. None of them had ever been in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/they-looked-as-if-nothing-had-ever-touched-them-all-well-mothered/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [To my mum, I owe security in a very insecure young life. We lived in about 10 different places because of my father's chequered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/to-my-mum-i-owe-security-in-a-very-insecure-young-life-we-lived-in/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) ## More by Matt Redman > [Most songs come from being attentive. Attentive to life, attentive to scripture, attentive to your heart. 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Why would the God of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-redman/who-on-earth-are-we-that-the-awesome-king-of-all-eternity-would-spare/) [Matt Redman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-redman/) > [I love the intensity of the Psalms. No-one ever sounds bored about God or about life in the Psalms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-redman/i-love-the-intensity-of-the-psalms-no-one-ever-sounds-bored-about-god/) [Matt Redman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-redman/) > [Singing is easy. The proof is always in the living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-redman/singing-is-easy-the-proof-is-always-in-the-living/) [Matt Redman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-redman/) > [I love the pursuit of songwriting, and I've seen what songs can do in people's lives. 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Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [If I had my brothers I think with just a little bit of the correct marketing, I'd like to be almost exclusively in small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-bozzio/if-i-had-my-brothers-i-think-with-just-a-little-bit-of-the-correct/) [Terry Bozzio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-bozzio/) > [Turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/upton-sinclair/turn-over-the-pages-of-history-and-read-the-damning-record-of-the/) [Upton Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/upton-sinclair/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [God is not calling us to go to church; he is calling us to be his church, the hope of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-groeschel/god-is-not-calling-us-to-go-to-church-he-is-calling-us-to-be-his/) [Craig Groeschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-groeschel/) > [The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samir-selmanovic/the-emerging-church-movement-has-come-to-believe-that-the-ultimate/) [Samir Selmanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samir-selmanovic/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. It is about God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wimber/worship-is-not-about-personality-temperament-personal-limitations/) [John Wimber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wimber/) > [A beggarly people, A church and no steeple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-beggarly-people-a-church-and-no-steeple/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The minute you walk outside of your church on Sunday you're in mission territory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barron/the-minute-you-walk-outside-of-your-church-on-sunday-you-re-in/) [Robert Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barron/) > [I'm not ashamed of the things I believe and why I believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-m-not-ashamed-of-the-things-i-believe-and-why-i-believe-them/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) [Browse all 9,430 Church quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/church/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The church has been under-fathered and over-mothered.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matt Redman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-redman/the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-over-mothered/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Church" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-redman/the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-over-mothered/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/matt-redman-17591_church_the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-o_2601193.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/matt-redman-17591_church_the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-o_2601193.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/608/matt-redman-17591_church_the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-o_2601193.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The church has been under-fathered and over-mothered.” — Matt Redman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Matt Redman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-redman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The church has been under-fathered and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-redman/the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-over-mothered/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-redman/the-church-has-been-under-fathered-and-over-mothered/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```