Ministry to Parents

When my firstborn was about 18 months old, I was offered a part-time job as a school librarian. My husband and I agreed that the only way I would accept it was if she was with family while I worked. Our parents said they’d be happy to help. Even though we offered to pay them, they refused. Their free babysitting was a huge blessing to us. Several years later, when I took a full-time position, my parents came over every morning to get our kids fed, dressed, and on the school bus – another fantastic blessing. Aside from the no-cost babysitting, infinitely more important was the fact that the girls would be with people who loved them, shared our values, and modeled Jesus for them.

As Christian parents, the core aspiration we have for our children is that they would have a lifelong relationship with Jesus. We pray for them and with them; we take them to church on Sundays; we encourage them to be involved in youth groups or student ministries. Yet studies show anywhere from 50-70% of students walk away from church or faith after leaving high school.

When we’re looking to recruit volunteers, we often turn to the parents of children in our ministry. They are the most likely candidates since their kids benefit from what we do on Sundays and mid-week services. We also look for teens to help. But there is an untapped generation of people in our churches we often overlook. Whether grandparents of the children in your ministry or the older generation in your church, there is a needed role for them to step into.

One of the hardest things we face as youth leaders is watching some of our former students walk away from church or their faith or once they leave our ministry to head off to college or whatever path they choose to take after graduating high school. We pour so much of our time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears into developing both environments and relationships to help them grow a strong, maturing faith, and more often than we want, it feels like it doesn’t stick.

At various times in my childhood, I experienced things that made me anxious. I was afraid of the dark, going to the basement at night, and being away from home, to name a few. One of the things that caused me panic was snakes; I was terrified of them. It didn’t matter to me that none of them were poisonous. I tried to avoid activities that made it more likely for me to come into contact with one.