The personal pain that John and Fair Brocard experienced as parents of a prodigal child birthed in them the desire to offer support to other hurting parents as well. To meet this need, they founded Prodigal Child Ministries in December 2004.

In the Bible, the prodigal son wandered far from home and was welcomed back by a father who never stopped loving him. We use the word “prodigal” the same way: for a loved one of any age who is struggling, and for the families who keep loving them through it. The hurt, rejection, lack of support and understanding in situations involving such struggling families led the Brocards to join forces with seven other hurting couples to form a Bible Study support group. The educational materials used to assist the couples in dealing with their prodigal children brought peace, freedom, hope, and a new understanding and purpose to the parents in the group. When the ten week course was complete, it was clear the group had gained beneficial insight that needed to be shared with other hurting families.

Since then, the Prodigal Bible Study has been made available to many other struggling parents with the same results, peace, freedom, hope, and purpose. It has become evident that through prayer, affirmation and the original Prodigal Bible Study Support Group, that a great need can be met by providing help on a regular basis to support and encourage these parents. Thus PCM came into being.

PCM today

What began as one Bible study has grown into support groups in Georgia and Tennessee, virtual groups on Zoom, a grief group, a sibling group, the Wisdom in the Waiting speaker series, and weekend retreats for parents.

Pacer and Julie Cordry had started a similar ministry of their own, Sunrise Parent Retreat. After more than 20 years of leading PCM, John and Fair Brocard asked Pacer and Julie to take over, and Sunrise Parent Retreat became part of Prodigal Child Ministries. Today Pacer and Julie carry forward the work John and Fair began.