Having some sort of parent meeting is common practice in any form of youth ministry. When talking to other youth workers who are trying some form of family-based youth ministry, a parent meeting is always mentioned and is usually already in the works. But a question must be proposed about those parent meetings. When you have a parent meeting, what is the purpose? Is it to push the youth program or is it to truly help the parents with their teen?

Too many of these meetings have the agenda to push the youth program. Yes, getting the detailed information of the youth program into the parents' hands in a forum where they can ask questions is helpful. But parents of teens need more than a calender of the youth program. They have these teens in their homes every day and probably feel overwhelmed as a parent of a teenager. Parents hope the church youth ministry can do more to help them than give them a schedule.

For youth workers who are not parents yet or not parents of teens yet, you often feel you can't tell parents how to parent. Would they listen to you? With a prepared culture blurb, you don't have to lead but you can provide the launching point for real parent training as parents share with each other what they have done or what they have learned the hard way. And you are the one giving them this. You don't have to be the older and wiser experienced parent to provide this.

The added bonus is that you do get to pass on calendar details too.

Another result is that parents want to come to these meetings for those moments of support.

Plan a parent meeting. Borrow one of these ideas and see if you don't experience the same.