Notes from Parents Meeting

Parent & Youth Meeting
December 3, 2006

• I have asked for both parents and youth to be here because I want each group to hear what the other group is being taught and told about. I want each of y’all to know what responsibilities I am laying out for each group. Youth – know what your parent’s responsibilities are. Parents – know what your youth’s responsibilities are.
• First thing, my area of responsibility is K-12 grade participants and their families. This is my congregation – and I am your pastor. Please utilize me as such – I have been called to be your pastor, so please use me as such. I am here for you.
• Philosophy of ministry – this revolves around the covenantal family.
• Jeremiah 31.33 - I will be their God, and they shall be my people… this is the crux of the covenant that God has made with His people, and this is the foundation from which I am building this ministry.
• In particular, my focus is on helping and aiding the covenant family, because God works through the covenantal family structure.
• I am here to aid the parents in their role of raising their children… please understand, I am not a miracle worker – I do not walk on water, nor do I turn water into wine – and I cannot snap my finger and make your kids good and your family ok. That is not what I do – my calling is to come alongside the family and to help you along.
• This ministry will be built to aid the parents, not to do those things that you don’t want to do. Which means this – my ministry to your family will look just like how you minister to your family.
• So far, we are off to a good start – because you are here this evening, and that shows me your seriousness in this ministry and your part in it.
• But, parents please understand that I am here to aid you as you seek to raise your family according to the covenant.
• Think about the way our week is scheduled at this church – I have an hour every other week with your kids. They spend a little less than one hour in Sunday School.
• Who do they spend a majority of their time with outside of the church? It isn’t with us – so which means that we are limited to what we can do.
• We aren’t there every day – we aren’t in the homes with them – we aren’t family.
• The burden of ministry falls upon your shoulders – and we are here to aid you in that.
• Hughes Oliphant Old, a professor at Erskine College and Seminary, said that the family is a little church – I believe that, and I want to aid you in that.
• How are we going to do that? Through teaching and relationships.
• Here are some of my goals in how we are going to structure our ministry – sometime in the next year, I want youth group to be a weekly meeting instead of every other week.
• This time will be spent in singing songs, praying for each other and being taught from Scripture on a number of issues and topics. We will also use our time to social with each other, to build relationships with one another.
• Our teaching will be heavy – meaning that I will focus on the Bible and to bring your youth along in their understanding of it – that from this teaching, we will be preparing Proverbs 31 women and Ephesians 5 men.
• Also, I would like for us to do some more singing in the groups – which means that I need some musical people to help out with this! I play guitar, but my voice scares more than it helps!
• This will be our main way of helping the family.
• We will also schedule social events – right now, I am looking at a ski trip for the winter break in Feb.
• We will do some big events scattered around smaller events – all of them aimed at building relationships with one another.
• Another thing we will start in the New Year is I would like to come and visit each family under my care – to pray with you, to fellowship with you, and to help you out anyway that I can… I will let you know more about that as I try and get that together.
• Finally, I hope to have parent’s meeting set up periodically – probably quarterly – to give you the opportunity to have a hand in all of this.
• Now, the best way that we can minister to your youth and child is if they are active in the church – in Sunday School, morning worship and in youth group… this is where our main exposure to your youth will be… if they aren’t involved, then we cannot minister to them.
• So, we need the youth to be involved in order for us to be able to minister to them.
• Parents, I encourage you to make this ministry a priority in the life of your family…I know that families are busy with different things at different places… but, what we are talking about here isn’t another extracurricular activity – we are talking about the care and nurture of your child’s soul and salvation… please make this ministry a priority in your life.
• Another idea for parents – your children model your behavior… this is proven over and over again… model for your children what a Christian should be, both in & out of church.
• I am amazed at how many parents think they can do what they want to and for it to not affect their children.
• Your children will model your behavior – so give them good behavior to be modeled after.
• Be active in church – come to church and be a part of the community.
• When you encourage your youth to come to youth group, why don’t you also go to evening worship? What better way to model this priority than for you to be a part of the evening activities here?
• Youth – you need to make this ministry a priority in your life, because each person working in this ministry is doing so for your benefit.
• I am the only paid worker here – the rest are volunteering to do this – and that shows you how much care there is for you in this church.
• Please make this a priority in your lives – get your homework done ahead of time, get your chores out of the way – and come and be a part of this time with each other.
• I am excited about the opportunities here – we have a good core of youth! There is no limit to what this ministry can do in the lives of each other.
• But, we all have to be dedicated to this in order for it to work… I have never seen a truly successful youth ministry that doesn’t involve the family in all ways, and that is what we aim to do.
• As I end my part, let me read to us a passage that explains to us the fundamentals of the covenant family – Deut. 6.4-9, 20-25
• I would like to give our other youth workers a moment to say a few words, and then open up the floor to any sort of discussion.