A New Thing I'm Learning...
As a new pastor, running my own Student Ministry for the first time, I am becoming privey to all those fun little nuggets that the leader has to deal with. These are the things that only the lead guy or girl usually experiences and the rest of us wonder why they think ministry is so hard...
Well the newest thing that I am trying to learn about, and become effective in, is dealing with the issue of how to implement parents into the ministry. I was talking with Kurt Brodbeck, the Junior High Pastor from Northview Christian Life Church, and Kurt Johnston from Saddleback Church (let me just press pause here and bring your attention to the fact that three Kurts... all spelling thier name correctly were talking about youth ministry, THAT DOESNT HAPPEN OFTEN!!) Anyways, we were discussion how to get better at ministering to parents, those that are disconnected and those that you get the feeling want to be TOO connected...
I saw this in Kurt Johnston blog and thought it was very insightful... If you need some advice on dealing with parents give it a read:
The Parent Puzzle
1 Published Thursday, January 18, 2007 by Kurt Johnston.
Utilizing parents in your middle school ministry can be a puzzle. So many pieces need to fit in place: Where do they serve? Do we let them minister alongside their kids? What if their child doesn't want them there? What if their child clings to them?
IMHO, developing a healthy team of parents to serve on your ministry team requires next-level leadership; leadership that takes a lot of work...leadership that lots of youth pastors are unwilling, or unable, to rise to. As a result, it seems like way too many junior high ministries are missing out on a gold mine of potential.
Here are a few thoughts on how to make the most of the parent puzzle:
1) Talk to the student first. How does he/she feel about mom or dad joining your volunteer team? How (or if) you plug the parent into your ministry should usually reflect what you hear from their child.
2) View every parent as a 'case-by-case' situation. I would avoid rules such as "no parent can be the leader of his son's small group" or "Parents are never allowed to sit next to their own kid" etc. Every parent/child relationship is different and no 'rule' applies well to them all.
3) Make sure parents want to minister to all the students in your group, not just their kid. For most, a primary motive will be to spend time with their child, but if they can't give the other students in your ministry equal time then joining your team probably isn't a good idea.
4) If you aren't the parent of a junior higher, you don't know squat! You may not like hearing that, but that's what the parents of your kids are thinking about you. Instead of working hard to prove them wrong, I suggest you admit it and do the hard work of enlisting lots of parents to join your team. I think you'll be glad you did.
Well the newest thing that I am trying to learn about, and become effective in, is dealing with the issue of how to implement parents into the ministry. I was talking with Kurt Brodbeck, the Junior High Pastor from Northview Christian Life Church, and Kurt Johnston from Saddleback Church (let me just press pause here and bring your attention to the fact that three Kurts... all spelling thier name correctly were talking about youth ministry, THAT DOESNT HAPPEN OFTEN!!) Anyways, we were discussion how to get better at ministering to parents, those that are disconnected and those that you get the feeling want to be TOO connected...
I saw this in Kurt Johnston blog and thought it was very insightful... If you need some advice on dealing with parents give it a read:
The Parent Puzzle
1 Published Thursday, January 18, 2007 by Kurt Johnston.
Utilizing parents in your middle school ministry can be a puzzle. So many pieces need to fit in place: Where do they serve? Do we let them minister alongside their kids? What if their child doesn't want them there? What if their child clings to them?
IMHO, developing a healthy team of parents to serve on your ministry team requires next-level leadership; leadership that takes a lot of work...leadership that lots of youth pastors are unwilling, or unable, to rise to. As a result, it seems like way too many junior high ministries are missing out on a gold mine of potential.
Here are a few thoughts on how to make the most of the parent puzzle:
1) Talk to the student first. How does he/she feel about mom or dad joining your volunteer team? How (or if) you plug the parent into your ministry should usually reflect what you hear from their child.
2) View every parent as a 'case-by-case' situation. I would avoid rules such as "no parent can be the leader of his son's small group" or "Parents are never allowed to sit next to their own kid" etc. Every parent/child relationship is different and no 'rule' applies well to them all.
3) Make sure parents want to minister to all the students in your group, not just their kid. For most, a primary motive will be to spend time with their child, but if they can't give the other students in your ministry equal time then joining your team probably isn't a good idea.
4) If you aren't the parent of a junior higher, you don't know squat! You may not like hearing that, but that's what the parents of your kids are thinking about you. Instead of working hard to prove them wrong, I suggest you admit it and do the hard work of enlisting lots of parents to join your team. I think you'll be glad you did.
posted by Kurt and Katie at
1:30 AM
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