Question:

I'm a HS/MS youth pastor of a fairly large church in Sioux City, IA. The longer I'm here, the longer I'm noticing that we have a huge void in this church regarding parents discipling their kids, connecting with their kids, and networking with other parents who are dealing with teenage issues. I want to try to start some sort of parent ministry, but I'm limited on time and human resources. Do you have any programming ideas/resources that would save some time and help us plot a course in this direction? Also, I have a number of parents who are in the heat of the battle of loving teens who are seriously getting sucked into some bad situations. Please let me know if you have any ideas!

Answer:

You are on the right track! As far as parent resources, check these out: Jim Burns and Mike DeVries have written, Partnering with Parents. In addition, there are many, many tip sheets on the HomeWord website that can help you and them get going.   In addition, I would contact the ministry of Mark DeVries (www.familybasedym.com). He is one of the "founders" of the parenting ministry model of student minstry. His book on Family-Based Youth Ministry is one of the best.