Youth Workers Handbook to Family Ministry, The
by By Clark, Chap
Category: Religion , Christian Education , General

Whether you want to start a family ministry from scratch (in a big or small way) or simply improve you church&apos;s existing ministry to families, you don’t have to add yet another task to your already full plate of responsibilities. All you need is a strategic, subtle yet deliberate shift in how you perceive and pursue youth ministry. Which is exactly what Chap Clark delivers in The Youth Worker&apos;s Handbook to Family Ministry--a practical, hands-on-manual for youth workers who see the need to work not just with teenagers, but with teenagers and their parents and family--in whatever large or small ways they can. Here&apos;s just some of what you&apos;ll find inside: -Family-ministry programming that works: Family activities for the whole church, family-friendly programs for junior high, workshops that work, including stepparenting classes and parent-teen topics, creative family camps, programs for connecting senior citizens and students, rites of passage, a family component to confirmation ministry. - Partnering with parents: 13 ways to involve parents in youth ministry, establishing a parent council and family ministry committee, checklist for a perfect parent meeting, the parent newsletter, gathering and creating resources for parents. - Choosing the Family-ministry model that fits your church: Three perspectives of family ministry, family ministry in five churches, what a church needs to function as a family, nine discussion questions that can direct your church&apos;s programming. - Moving your church toward family ministry: Four options for integrating youth and family ministries, questions to ask as you contemplate a move into family-friendly youth ministry, seven steps toward a family-based youth ministry, dealing with resistance, the family-friendly church calendar. - Plus reproducible handouts for adults and teenagers: A family-needs assessment, caught in the middle -- or , the fine art of step-parenting, 15 creative ways to tell you kids 'I love you,' individuation, not separation, God the parent: the model of biblical parenting, 15 creative ways to tell your parents 'I love you,' what kids need to know about dads and moms -- and about stepparents. Whether you&apos;re a youth worker, a pastor, or a CE director -- The youth Worker&apos;s handbook to Family Ministry is your reality check for intergenerational ministry.