This is part 3 of a 5 part series.

In the first blog post, I wrote about how I regret making bathing suit policies. In the last one, I wrote about how I wished I empowered women more in my ministry. Today’s I turn to how I missed the opportunity to really care for parents more.

I regret not making parent ministry a priority

It took me six years after college to realize that being the youth pastor doesn’t mean you just pastor youth. You also pastor your volunteer leaders and parents. I am grateful for ministries, like Orange, that put a huge emphasis on coming alongside the family and partnering with parents to point students toward Jesus. I regret not spending more time critically thinking about how to do this.

I had the occasional parents’ meetings and monthly emails informing parents about what we were doing, the latest trends, and general information. I just wish I did more in coaching parents to create rhythms in their homes that made Jesus as much a part of their home life as evening dinners. 

I wish I could have taught about family devotions. More specifically, how to do them. One thing that I didn’t realize until late in my youth ministry career is that if the parents are on board, your youth ministry becomes easier. Do the hard work. You pastor more than just the youth. How can you help parents with spiritual practices in the home that will overflow into the lives of the students? How can you care for single parents struggling to parent alone? There are so many ideas here. We all know we should do this, but block out time to actually do this.

Some questions to consider:
What are the ways you are connecting with parents right now? Are you proud of what you are doing or do you wish you were doing more?

How have you empowered parents in your ministry? Are there any parents you can recruit to help pastor other parents?Is there time in your month where you can dedicate a few hours to think critically and create resources for parents to create in-home spiritual practices? Can you help parents connect with resources and you train those parents on how to use them to help create vibrant spiritual practices in the home?

Frank Gil

My name is Frank. I once ran over a possum.
If you purchase my products, your students will think you are awesome!

Find Frank’s DYM resources here!