We know that parents are the biggest spiritual influence in the life of their children.
As ministry leaders, we have the awesome opportunity to be an equipper, cheerleader and influencer of parents.
Here are five ways you can help parents succeed in their biggest responsibility....leading their children to love and serve Jesus for a lifetime.
Provide them with tools they can use to disciple their children.
Here are some examples:
Take home papers.
Bible reading plan.
Devotion books for the kids.
Discipleship apps.
Facebook page for parents. On the page, place the weekly take home paper, Bible verses, activities to do at home, devotional readings, parenting tips, etc.
Salvation class.
The most important thing parents do is to lead their children to Jesus. You can come alongside parents and provide a class (for kids and parents together) that explains what it means to follow Jesus. You can use my Starting Point class for this. Included in the class, is a booklet that parents can use to follow-up with their child after the class. Hundreds of churches are using this class with great success. You can get more information about the class and see samples at this link.
Once children and their parents have went through the Starting Point class, they can then attend the baptism class. There is a parent booklet for this class as well. You can get more information about this class and see samples at this link.
Parenting classes and trainings.
I think many of us in children's ministry have previously had the mindset that parenting classes and strategies are the responsibility of the adult ministry. We've left it in their hands. But as churches are realizing that children's ministry also has a responsibility to equip parents, we have started taking the lead in leading parenting classes.
Partnering in prayer.
We should be very intentional when it comes to partnering with parents in prayer. Here are a few ideas for this.
Create a prayer promise calendar for parents. Have a prayer promise for each day of the month. Encourage parents to use this to pray for their children.
Put a prayer promise from God's Word on the wall in each of your nursery and preschool environments. Let parents know that each week the prayer will be prayed over their child. Encourage them to join you and pray the same verse over their child at home.
Another powerful thing to do is to call parents and ask them how you can best pray for their child. Parents will respond to this.
Consistent church attendance.
One of the biggest areas parents are struggling is with consistent church attendance. Families are attending church less frequently. For many families, consistent attendance is considered once a month or less. Parents who choose sports, recreation and staying home to just "chill" over church attendance are going to have a hard time succeeding spiritually with their children.
Our goal is to see families attend church more consistently. How do we accomplish this? It's not an easy task for sure. I have seen some success by connecting with parents when their children are still very young.
A parent and child dedication class is a great time to cover this with parents. They are normally open to this when their children are still very young. Wait until their children are in 3rd grade and are already entrenched with sports, weekend activities, etc. and you will have a much harder time getting them to commit to putting God first on Sunday and consistently being at church on weekends. You can get my parent and child dedication class at this link. In this class, I emphasize why consistent church attendance is crucial for young parents and their children.
Your turn. What are some more ways we can help parents as they raise their children to follow Jesus.
