The Purpose of Pastor to Parent

God’s calling on my life has never been more clear. I am daily filled with awe at the privilege, responsibility, and joy that I have each day as I serve as the Pastor of Student Ministries of OneEightyOne Student Ministries, of Parma Heights Baptist Church. This calling and my essential duties can be described in a variety of ways:

  • Equip the saints to do the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12)
  • Give attention to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4)
  • Help students find and follow Jesus Christ

But none of these in any ways suggest that it’s my place, or the church’s place to supplant parents. It is your/their primary place to evangelize and disciple these teens and to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:4) So, perhaps I should add to the list:

  • Encourage and equip parents to parent in a godly manner

Admittedly, this is challenging for me, as I’ve never been a parent of a teen. So I won’t even pretend to fully grasp the daily challenges, doubts, questions, or discouragements.  (I will join you in all of these in just a handful of years.) I won’t try to stand on expert experience, as I have none.  But I do have a unique and fortunate viewpoint. I have observed, studied, and worked with hundreds of teens, parents, and families for over a decade.  I have the outside perspective. I have experience with God’s word in many of these areas of life, and I want to help you do what only you can best do – parent your teen.

It’s my intention that these posts will serve to fulfill several purposes:

  • Provide a forum for clear, two-way communication (I’m moving from an email newsletter to a blog, so that we can interact, so please do!)
  • Give voice to the heart of your pastor
  • Pass along important info, dates, reminders, deadlines, updates, etc.
  • Share biblical resource on parenting
  • Offer increased flow of info on mini-series, messages, lessons, and resources for you to interact with your teen and God’s word

So, that’s the who, what, and why.  I pray that you find this helpful, and I encourage you to subscribe, as this will become my primary vehicle for communication in the coming year.

-DJFA

 

For Discussion: What type of info do you want to see regularly?  How often do you want updates as a parent?


No Responses to “The Purpose of Pastor to Parent”

  1. kzemek says:

    Sounds like an interesting blog has been born here! Welcome to the blog world! I’ll add you to my blog roll and give you a shout out on my blog.

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