When a parent gets better, everybody wins.
Allie and I defined the mission statement of our youth ministry as "Coming alongside youth and their families so that they may know, love and serve Jesus Christ." A lot of the emphasis of youth ministry is placed on reaching out to youth and ministering to them. However, we are increasingly convinced - and convicted - that more of our ministry needs to be directed towards the parents of the youth we serve. Not just putting together a calendar of events, or a description of our programs, but equipping parents as best we know how so that they can be the best parents they can to their teenaged children. To that end, I will try to capture quality resources on this blog that are specifically geared towards parents of teenagers as I become aware of them and find them helpful.
My motive is not purely to enhance our youth ministry, but also to equip Allie and me as parents of soon-to-be teenagers. Bill Hybels is fond of saying that "When a leader gets better, everybody wins." Perhaps I can play off of that and coin my own phrase: "When a parent gets better, everybody wins." (Is that plagiarism?) By that I mean the family, the church, and the world.
(excerpted from Brizblog post on 5/1/2013)
Recommended web sites for parents of teens:
Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (CPYU) with Walt Mueller
CPYU has been around for awhile now and does a great job of keeping up with teen culture: music, movies, technology, and dangers. Walt Mueller, the founder, has raised some teens and is working at this from experience. You can follow CPYU on Twitter, Facebook, and sign up for their Youth Culture e-Update, a free email newsletter.
The Source for Parents by Jonathan McKee
Jonathan is an experienced youth worker, speaker, and author who equips youth pastors and parents to raise Christian teenagers. He's also the parent of some teenagers, so he's in the trenches with you! You can follow Jonathan on Twitter, Facebook, and he has several email newsletters you can subscribe to: The Source 4 Parents EZINE, Youth Culture Window, and Jonathan's Blog.
HomeWord Center for Youth and Family with Jim Burns
Jim Burns started out as a youth ministry guru, but now focuses on helping parents with children of all ages, with a slight bent towards teens. You can follow Jim on Twitter, HomeWord on Facebook, and subscribe to several email newsletters: Today's HomeWord Daily Devotional, Good Advice Parent Newsletter, and HomeWord's Weekly Culture Brief.
Real World Parents with Mark Matlock
Mark Matlock is the "Team Leader" of Youth Specialties, a non-profit organization that equips Christian youth workers with ideas, training, books, games, and conferences. In addition to conferences for parents, Real World Parents has a weekly email newsletter with youth culture updates, conversation starters, and a little humor. They also have a daily prayer email that gives you a 10 second prayer for your children. I realize that there are so many resources out there for parents that you might get overloaded, but surely you can fit a 10 second prayer into your busy day!
Free downloadable book for parents:
Do you ever have trouble finding out from your child what happened on a mission trip they went on? Here's an eBook from Leadership Treks called Helping Parents Connect Before, During, and After the Mission Trip - maybe it will help!
