Parents

this one's a short slice from a portion on teamwork. enjoy.

One thing that I can’t stress enough is the fact that youth ministry is like an iceberg—you only see 10% of the mass!
I’ve been in a few youth ministry situations where parents are seen as either the good guys or the bad guys.

Deut 6 tells us that youth ministry primarily belongs to the parents… and as youth workers, we need to get that past our north American ideology of ecclesiology. Perhaps, as the traditional pastoral staff, we need to understand their role as parents and our role as pastors. Their role is found in deut 6. Our role is found in Eph 4 (equipping the saints for ministry).
When it comes to parenthood, every parent stands as a minister to their child. It is our job to help them do their job.

Takes a village to raise a child… and to our advantage, parents are great youth workers to other kids who see them as parents as well. I don’t know how many times kids say “I love Mrs. Mclaclyn because she’s like the mom I never had”.

Perhaps we need to realize that parents are the most underutilized youth workers in the church. They’ve been doing it for years more than the hired hand, so why not invest in some seasoned help?