This past Sunday I had the opportunity to meet with the parents of the students in the new youth ministry I just moved into a month ago. After meeting with some people and asking for their input on what would be advantageous to address in our meeting, here are the 5 things I chose to focus on and did my best to communicate in our parent meeting:- Shared Our Story. I wanted them to know our family and a bit of our history so that they could have some context to be able to understand who we are.
- Explained Our Philosophy of Youth Ministry. I want them to understand our values and how we make decisions about what we will do and how we will do it.
- Upcoming Events. I gave them information about two big events coming up and told them that our leadership team is finalizing a calendar for the next 6 months that will be in their hands in the next 2 weeks so that they could plan accordingly.
- Offered Partnership and Called For Commitment. I shared what we feel the purpose of youth ministry is and committed to parents that we are going to do our very best to deliver on what we feel called to do - partner with them to help their kids discover and passionately live for Jesus. I then tried to clearly call parents to help us communicate to their children that Jesus is a priority by encouraging their kids to participate, invite their un-churched friends, and make the sacrifices necessary for their kids to be involved.
- Opened Floor For Questions and Input. I believe this is the most important thing we did. We can talk all day, but if we don't answer the questions people are asking, we've wasted their time. I tried to ensure that the content I communicated above would address things people would be asking by surveying some people ahead of time. But there were still some questions (some very good and insightful ones, I might add). Whether they ask a lot of questions, a few, or none, affording them the opportunity to do so communicates that we care about what they have to say.
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