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Last night we had our first ever activity planning where we organize the activities for the youth for the entire year! It was grueling, it was long but it was amazing. During the meeting there was a discussion about conducting a lock-in in April 2013 and typically I only do one lock-in a year because it is painful, exhausting and I hate them. Yet, truth be told, the students really enjoy them especially if the lock-in is planned well. As I was trying to convince the students and parents for us just to keep our yearly lock-in a parent humbled me with this comment:
“Robbie, what do we, as parents, need to do to make this happen?”
I was amazed at getting this response because this person was so serious about making this lock-in and she was willing to do whatever it took to help out. After the meeting I thought about our youth ministry and how vital our parents are. Doug Fields has a comment in his book Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry that has always stuck with me:
A Youth Ministry that excludes parents is about as effective as a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage. (p. 251)
Whether you promote a missional model or a program model in youth ministry, if parents are not at the core then you are failing. Make it happen with parents and allow them to partner along with you and steer the ship.
What a great way to start the fall!
