HERE'S A HOT TIP:

If you have an important activity coming up (and almost all of them ARE!) give a quick recording of the facts on your home answering machine or your church's answering machine if you have an extension. Let the PARENTS know that they can always double-check the information by merely calling and listening to the recording. This saves a lot of grief for parents who do not receive the handouts that you send with the teens.

PARENT MEETINGS: NECESSARY AND POWERFUL

Let's talk about Parent Meetings. These are meetings where you will share different levels of information with the parents of your youth group teens. If you haven't had meetings like this, you are cheating your paretns out of the right to know how you are ministering to their children. These are vital, and do not neglect these. You add a valuable pillar to your ministry if you have the parents' suppoort, and you cannot get it if the parents do not know what is going on!

HERE ARE SOME VITAL TIPS FOR RUNNING PARENTS MEETINGS!

1. You should have a meeting every two months.

2. You must GUARANTEE the parents will be out of the meeting in 45 minutes. I have my wife run a stopwatch and tell me when to stop - and I do! If I run too long, my parents attendance drops significantly.

3. The meeting should take place either before of after the evening service.

4. If you don't have refreshments, you're making a big mistake.

5. Tell the parents what you are teaching the kids. briefly explain your teaching goals and the Bible passages you are using. Tell them your teaching on Sundays and Wednesdays.

6. Give them a calendar of the next two months' activities.

7. Explain the activities and events: where you are going, how much it will cost, who the chaperones are, etc.

8. Tell (in one minute or less) why you are serving as a youth worker. Do it every time you meet. The parents never grow tired of it.

9. THANK the parents for the opportunity to serve them. THANK THEM!