Today we had a great LIVE Youth Ministry Conversation about getting parents involved in the spiritual lives of their teenagers. Many of you requested that I record it due to your absence, so here it is! You can find the recording below.

In summary, here’s some things we talked about:

• Giving talk-sheets to parents after each youth group lesson so they can continue the discussion at home.
• Using monthly newsletters.
• Why we don’t use scare tactics and statistics about teens.
• Parent meetings/book clubs/small groups/classes/forums.
• Using parents as youth volunteers.
• Open house parent dinners.
• And a whole lot more.

I apologize for the poor audio quality. Technology never quite seems to work right. Ugh! One of these days it’ll work the way it’s supposed to… I hope.

Subscribe to conversations in iTunes

Next Topic: Problems with youth group as a “minichurch”

Youth groups often have their own worship services, their own “sermons,” their own worship bands, everything “big church” has, but tweaked for youth. It’s almost like there’s a minichurch inside the larger church. What affect does this have on a teenager’s perspective of what church is all about and their role in it? What’s happening to our churches as a result? Is there a better approach we should take? Come talk about it with us!

Upcoming Schedule

The schedule and topics are maintained on our LIVE Youth Ministry Conversations page, but here’s a glance at what’s coming up.

• August 15: No conversation.
• August 22: Problems with youth group as a “minichurch.”
• August 29: No conversation.
• September 5: Evaluating the spiritual depth of our youth ministries.
• September 12: Working with students who suffer from depression and eating disorders (special guest, TBA).

Join our next LIVE Youth Ministry Conversation!.

Posted on August 8, 2008