Joy Bowen
Joy was one of the keynote speakers at the 2011 ICM. She really challenged us all to take our leadership to another level. She taught us: How to Launch a Jr. Praise and Worship Team, How to Structure Your Preschool and Children’s Ministry, Leading Families,Organizing Intentional Small Groups, and Mobilizing Kids and Youth to Lead.
This week, I would like to share some of Joy’s thoughts about connecting with parents. It’s extremely important for pastors to work together with their children’s director to ensure that parents know what is going on:
My family is navigating the roller coaster many know as “Middle School” for the first time in our parenting career. We now have multiple teachers and a myriad of due dates, test dates and every other date one would want to add to the calendar. Our heads are swimming.
Most teachers have a class website that students (and parents) can access to stay in the loop on the the details of Middle School life. It’s a welcome life preserver for those of us who feel we are drowning in paperwork coming home. Some teachers do not utilize this technology for communication because they fear that parents will complete their children’s assignments.
As much as I would hate to admit that there are certain parents who would cross the line and complete assignments for their child, I have a hard time believing that every parent is seeking ways to cheat the system. Regardless of her reasoning, this decision has made it extremely difficult for parents to participate in the process.
Perhaps you are tempted to tell your children’s director to stop creating communication pieces for parents because of the dozen that you found on the ground last week. We’ve all wondered, “is this really worth the effort?”
Why not make it as easy as possible for parents to become connected with what you are doing? Some will, some won’t – it’s okay. Your ultimate goal is to help lead parents to the next step. According to Barna, 85% of parents believe they have the primary responsibility for teaching their kids about religious beliefs. One size does not fit all when it comes to communication. If your goal is to help parents take the next step as the spiritual leader of the home, how have you made it easy for parents to stay in the loop?
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