Postmodern Family Ministry

Session 4: Partnering with Postmodern Parents

Influence a child and you change a life influence parents and you change a family.

15 Keys to Partnering with Postmodern Parents

Key #1 - Think parents. Always think How can I involve parents in this? How can I help parents maximize their spiritual influence through this? What tools can I place in parents hands through this?

Key #2 - Get it on their radar. No one has more influence in your childs life than you.

PARENTAL INFLUENCE TOOLS

Key #3 - Be just as intentional about building relationships with parents as you are with kids.

Key #4 - Celebrate milestones with families. A milestone is an event that clearly marks or defines Gods work or presence in a persons life. And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what He had done to the Red Sea when He dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." Joshua 4:20-24 Milestones 2 Parent / Child Dedication 1st Grade Bible Faith commitment / Baptism Pre-teen Passage Purity Pledge Prep for adulthood High school graduation
Partnering with Postmodern Parents

Key #5 - Provide parents with easy-to-use tools and resources. Key questions to ask yourself about tools you create or use. Is it easy to understand? Is it simple to use? Is it age-appropriate? Can it be done in 10 minutes or less? Does it connect to what was taught at church?

Key #6 - Create shared spiritual growth opportunities for families. Make it strategic. Make it targeted for both kids and parents. Make it memorable. Make it spiritual.

Key #7 - Host parent focus groups.

What expectations do you have for Childrens Ministry? What areas of spiritual growth do you desire to see in your children? What are some positive things Childrens Ministry is doing to help your child grow spiritually? How can Childrens Ministry help your child grow more spiritually? What truths and topics from the Bible do you want to see instilled in your children? What are your priorities in raising your children to love God? What areas are you struggling in as a parent that Childrens Ministry can come alongside you and help with? How can Childrens Ministry better partner with you as a parent? What resources and tools can Childrens Ministry provide to help you disciple your children? Does your child feel loved, accepted, and connected? How can we improve in seeing that happen? How does your child feel about their experience at church? Positives? Negatives? What are some ideas that can help Childrens Ministry be more effective?
Partnering with Postmodern Parents

Key #8 - Be prepared to minister to families when they are going through difficult times.

Key #9 - Involve grandparents.

Key #10 - Get parents involved in serving in Childrens Ministry at church. Ideas: Classroom VIP Special events Special projects Special skills

Key #11 - Provide opportunities for families to serve together. Families can be greeters together. Families can participate in community service projects together. Families can raise money to meet needs together.

Partnering with Postmodern Parents

Families can go on mission trips together. Families can participate in outreach events together. What are some things you have done to encourage families to serve together? What are some other ways to encourage families to serve together?

Key #12 - Effectively communicate with them. They are bombarded with information. The average adult is flooded with over 247 messages a day. They have very short attention spans. Say it short. Show it short. Write it short. Respond quickly.

Communicate through Facebook. 800 million users and growing exponentially. More than 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages). Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events. On average, more than 250 million photos are uploaded per day. More than 350 million active users currently access Facebook through their mobile device. Facebook: Christ Fellowship/GK Parents Twitter. Number of users increased by 59% last year. Text.

Over 5 billion text messages are sent every day. Average student sends over 3,300 text per month. Over 98% of text messages get read. www.txtsignal.com.

Partnering with Postmodern Parents

Key #13 - Provide them parental advice.

Key #14 - Challenge fathers to step up. 60% of church attenders are women 25% of women attend church without their husbands Make it more appealing to men. Be intentional about targeting men. Offer men opportunities to disciple their sons in a masculine setting.

Key #15 - Partner with adult ministries.

When we reach and disciple a family we make an impact for generations to come.

You can connect with Dale at daleh@cftoday.org www.relevantchildrensministry.com Facebook DaleHudson/Florida Twitter - @dalehudsoncm 6
Partnering with Postmodern Parents