Youth Ministry: Parents Section

Teens’ faith lives follow the faith lives of their parents.

“There is no greater leadership challenge than parenting.”-Jim Rohn, the late entrepreneur, author and motivator

How can I get my teen more involved in Youth Ministry?

10.  Challenge them to a game, and if they loose, they have to come.

 9.   Let them invite a friend to come with them.

 8.   Insist that they try it for 1 year, then they can decide if they want to continue.

 7.   Bribery

 6.   Alternative to punishment: If you had to administer a lengthy punishment, sometimes it's best for everyone if time is served in a religious environment.

 5.  Talk to your teen about it

 4.  Bless your kids, and pray with them.

 3.  Share your faith with them.

 2.  Set the example, get involved yourself.

 1.  Pray

How we can connect with your teen: So many good ways to communicate, everyone has their favorite.  Let us know what your teen prefers.

Facebook: We have a St. Joseph’s Youth Ministry Facebook group to increase community, promote upcoming events, and share pictures from past events.

Texting: The most popular mode of communication for teenagers, we send out requests and reminders.

E-mail: A good old fashioned e-mail can keep teens up to date on what’s happening

Phone calls:  Actual human communication

Snail Mail:  There’s nothing like getting real mail with your own name on it to make teens feel important.

No Excuses!

· My Child is too busy for another thing.

Don’t make their relationship with God just another “thing” among many other things.  Integrate faith formation, prayer, Christian service, and Sunday worship as a regular, “normal,” non-negotiable component of family life. 

· I want them to go, but School, sports and other activities take too much time already.

Put God first, and then everything else will fall into place.

 

A Catholic Parent’s Prayer O Gracious God, O Divine Parent,              You know better than anyone who much I want to do right by my kids.  I can only do this with your help, by the power of your Spirit working in me; Help me to put faith at the center of our family- To make prayer, Sunday worship, Christian service and growing in our faith regular, normal non-negotiable parts of our family life, To confidently live, model & talk about faith at home, To be meaningfully involved at church, To seek and seize opportunities to learn about and deepen my own faith and love, and To give and get support from other parents. I pray for courage, stamina and resilience over the long haul; To be a strong leader in the “domestic Church” that is our family, To stand up for what’s most important and put it at the center of our family’s life, And to let go of what’s not, To make the tough decisions that need to be made about my kids’ activities and priorities, so as To lead them into lives of deep faith, hope and love in this world, and eternal life in the next. I dedicate myself today to this your call to me as a parent, in the name of Jesus. Amen.