A Call to Youth Ministers and the Church

     Thank you parents and youth for spending some time with us on Sunday.  Thank you for hearing our hearts for Mosaic and the families of EFC.  Below is a copy of the document that puts into a synopsis what we talked about on Sunday night.  You are welcome to copy and paste it, think and pray over it and talk with others about it.

October 14th we are planning a family night of worship at EFC.  6pm.  The whole family is invited.  Any family is welcome.  Spread the news and let me know if there are any questions.

We love you all!

Loren and Alaina and Zane

A Call to to Youth Ministers and the Church
Published in 2004 by YouthWorker Journal

• Whereas God intends for parents to serve as the primary spiritual instructors of their children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), and
   
• Whereas God intends for those He calls as ministers to equip His people for service (Ephesians 4:11-13), and
   
• Whereas many parents in church fail to fulfill their responsibility for the spiritual development of their children (Judges 2:10, 14), and
   
• Whereas the church makes its greatest impact upon unbelieving youth and families when its own youth and families are healthy spiritually (1 Timothy 3:1-13), and
  
• Whereas we as church and organizational leaders too long have failed to equip parents for their vital role in the spiritual instruction and leadership of their teenage children,

Therefore,

• We call for youth ministers to take on their rightful role as pastoral ministers to parents, acknowledging parents as the primary spiritual leaders of their children and serving parents in that role.

To further define this role,

• We call for youth ministers to champion the call for churches to pray for parents and to mobilize parents to pray for their teenagers.

• We call for youth ministers to spend intentional time each week administering and communicating ministries that impact the home.
   
• We call for youth ministers consistently to involve parents with leaders and resources that equip parents for biblical parenting and primary discipling of their children.
   
• We call for youth ministers to acquire training in family ministry to be equipped to respond to families in crisis and to refer when necessary.
   
• We call for youth ministers to include events and experiences that bring parents and teenagers together when it best achieves ministry purposes.
   
• We call for churches to call youth ministers in agreement with this document and to support and encourage existing youth ministers to make a transition toward parent ministry.
  
• We call for senior pastors and church leaders to incorporate the spirit of this document in the church’s ministry with parents of children of all ages. 

Below is the link to the Mike Yaconelli articles that were written in 2003 in Youth Worker Journal.  I wasn't able to find the original article.

Also, the statistic saying 75-88% of teenagers graduating from Christian homes are walking away from the faith is based on a survey done within the Southern Baptist Denomination and may not be the same for all Christian churches or denominations.

http://www.sundaysoftware.com/yaconelli.htm