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This is a guest post by Sue Miller as part of Orange Week. Orange is a strategy of bringing the church (yellow) and families (red) together to reach the next generation. If you’re new to Orange, you should click here to learn more.
I spent some time recently with a group of leaders talking about children’s ministry. They were sharing with me their disappointment over their apparent lack of influence in a child’s life each Sunday. With the stats showing that parents have the greatest influence in a child’s life, it’s easy to feel like Sundays aren’t worth our best efforts anymore.
It helps me to remember there are some things children’s ministry can do better than parents at home. We give children a chance to experience corporate worship and teaching in an environment with their peers. We provide asmall group leader who loves them and listens to them differently than a parent does. We create an environment where our kids can invite their lost friends.
That’s what I love about Orange thinking. It’s not an either/or kind of mentality. It’s both/and.
We need parents to do what they do best at home. And we need to keep the bar high as we commit to using every minute we have on Sunday to do what only a children’s ministry can do.
What do you think? Click here to leave a response to this post. You may also enjoy what other bloggers are writing about Orange week.
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Yes families are important, but I can think of many, through the generations who came to church, were the first saved in their family, and through church alone learned how to be a Christian, how to grow as a Christian, were discipled through the church alone without parent involvement.
Just wanted us to remember that for some kids, we’re all they’ve got. :o)
The two most important things that my church can do that my wife and I would struggle to do are:
Creating a culture where it’s easy to connect our kids with other adults who share our beliefs and are willing to reinforce our values that doesn’t feel overly contrived or forced.
Provide them with a Christian peer group. Our family left a church we all loved (35 minutes away) when our girls got to be of school age because we needed to connect to a place where they’d make friends they could look to at school or at parties for support when other kids start pushing them to do stuff they know isn’t right.
God’s perfect way is for parents to teach thir children about Him and His ways. He never intended for the church to take over the parents’ role. Having said all that, some parents have abdicated their God-given responsibility. We are in this position of teaching others’ children because God hates a vacuum.
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