In his article, “
Can Youth Ministers Actually Work with Parents?” (posted at The Gospel Coalition), Pastor John Pond challenges the church with the following:
For years I always told the pastor, parent, or anyone else who asked that of course I am partnering with parents. We never want to be that youth ministry that does not work alongside parents,[since] they are the primary disciple makers. However, a few years ago I realized that when it comes to working out this priority I was just giving lip service. Talking to other youth ministers I realized I was not the only one. How do the youth minister and parent practically work together to see that discipleship is actually happening in our teenagers' lives, as opposed to working in isolation and only pretending that we are working together?
He then highlights and discusses four elements that must be present for a genuine partnership to exist:
- Communicate regularly
- Pray together
- Spend time with parents
- Create pro-family calendars
And he concludes with this important reminder:
The youth minister and parent are each other's best allies when they work together. If we want our students to persevere with faith after high school, having joy in Christ and not in sin, parents and youth ministers have to support and encourage each other. Discipleship starts to go deep in the teenage years, and the whole church must cooperate. What's at stake? Only the future family of the church.
You can read the whole article “
Can Youth Ministers Actually Work with Parents?”
here.”
