From Nashville to Chicago's South Side, fatherlessness haunts America

Walking across America reveals Nashville's moral crossroads. Here's what I want to share about fatherlessness, cultural shifts, and the need for faith-based redemption.

I know the consequences of fatherlessness all too well, and that’s why I’ve been walking across America to raise funds for a community center designed to promote family values: education, jobs, courtship, marriage, child-rearing and responsible finances. Pastor Corey Brooks, known as the "Rooftop Pastor," is the founder and Senior Pastor of New Beginnings Church of Chicago and the CEO of Project H.O.O.D. (Helping Others Obtain Destiny), the church's local mission. He gained national attention for his 94-day and 343-day rooftop vigils to transform the notorious "O-Block," once known as Chicago's most dangerous block, into #OpportunityBlock. Learn more at ProjectHOOD.org.

The markers of faith are everywhere in Nashville. I passed by countless churches, the crosses standing tall in the sky. Many artists sing of redemption and finding grace. There is still the local, traditional culture that has fueled Nashville for so long. But there is a change, a shift of sorts, happening — the pressure that comes from the larger national culture, influenced by nontraditional and postmodern forces.