From Authority to Friendship: Navigating New Seasons with Adult Children

You Will Always Be a Parent

Parenting doesn’t end at eighteen—it changes shape. From Authority to Friendship: Navigating New Seasons with Adult Children gives you a clear, biblical roadmap for that new season, moving you from authority to influence and from rules to relationship. With pastoral warmth and real-life counsel, Tim Goeman shows how to honor your adult children as responsible, independent adults, while still offering gospel-shaped guidance on what these relationships should look like. Practical and to the point, the book tackles the moments where tensions flare—wedding expectations, adult kids moving back home, navigating technology, and favoritism. The ultimate goal is not to stay in a parental relationship with your children, but to transition to becoming friends with your grown sons and daughters. Whether you’re preparing for the launch, already in the thick of it, or helping others in your church, this guide will help you relate to your adult children with conviction, humility, and joy.

Endorsements

"For those of us with adult children, navigating the transition from childhood to adulthood rarely comes with clear instructions. Thankfully, Tim Goeman has done the hard work of thinking carefully and biblically through what this season ought to look like—and how parents should walk through it faithfully. I am grateful for Goeman’s clear commitment to biblical principles and his willingness to help parents push through mixed emotions in order to act in ways that honor God and genuinely serve their adult children as wise, gracious friends. If you are approaching this stage of life, get this book and prayerfully work through it. If you know someone already there, give them a copy and pray God will use it for its intended good."

―Dr. Mike Fabarez, Pastor of Compass Bible Church, Aliso Viejo, California
Author of Raising Men, Not Boys (Moody Publishers, 2017)

"The relationship between parents and their adult children can be complicated. All parties need wisdom. This book provides a wealth of practical biblically based advice for how parents can cultivate a relationship of mutual respect with their adult children."

―Dr. Jim Newheiser, Professor of Christian Counseling and Pastoral Theology
Director of the Christian Counseling Program
Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte

"Tim Goeman’s From Authority to Friendship: Navigating New Seasons with Adult Children is a delightful read for three reasons. First, as a dad of adult children, it applied to me immediately. Second, as a pastor, I was so pleased to receive this well-needed and practical resource. Third, as a theologian, I was comforted to observe the whole book anchored firmly in Scripture. Crafted in a compact and easy-to-read style, this is precisely what Christian parents of adult children need. This is a must-read without a doubt."

―Dr. Steve Swartz, Senior Pastor of Grace Bible Church of Bakersfield
Author of Abuse, Abandonment, and Divorce, Strength in the River, and Profile of a Godly Wife