Hi, I’m Stacy, and I’m the parent of a middle-schooler (or 3)…
Have I mentioned that I’m the youth pastor at my church, again? One of the things that I want to do differently this time around is the way we partner with parents. After all, it’s the parents who are called to lead their families and disciple their children, not the church. I want to be a helper, a partner, to encourage and equip parents to mentor their children.
I invited the parents of our middle school students to a kickoff meeting tonight. To be quite honest, I had pretty low expectations. 4 people bounced back a RSVP telling me they were coming. I figured we’d have some coffee and chat a bit. By 7pm we had more than 15 parents in the room!
After some introductions (and coffee) I steered the conversation to get us talking about discipling our kids. We mentioned some of the things that we’ve tried, wanted to try, or heard about others trying. I’m pretty sure of a couple of things:
1. Most parents realize that we’re supposed to be doing something to help our families grow in faith.
2. Most parents don’t know exactly how to do #1, and they feel a little guilty about not doing much in this area.
So we’re going to be doing some reading and researching, some sharing and encouraging. We have an opportunity to shape the faith of our families. We have a small window of opportunity to make a difference, to leave a legacy. We realize that we have to be intentional, and that it’s our own faith and relationship with Jesus that’s got to fuel our interaction.
If you’d like to be part of the discussion, or if you have some ideas or questions, we’d love to have you join us. Drop me a line, and let’s see what sticks!
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