Justice Hits Close to Home (Part Four)
by CYFM
In your experience, what keeps teenagers’ parents from being involved in a youth ministry's justice work?
Terry Linhart (Dean of the School of Religion and Philosophy of Bethel College in Indiana): I think there is, unfortunately, still a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the word “justice.” I find that many parents, even youth workers, see the word and associate it as lying at the other end of the theological spectrum from evangelism. This is still a leftover issue from the conservative/liberal battles of the 1960’s and it’s an artificial dichotomy we need to correct. From a kingdom perspective, the two go hand-in-hand.
Sandy Liu (Pastor of Youth and Children at Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston): Parents are often too busy with their own life priorities (job stress, over-scheduled family activities, etc.). They let themselves be tyrannized by the urgent and end up forgetting what’s important.
Dave Livermore (Executive Director of the Global Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary): For one thing, I'm not sure they're invited to do so. Either the students or their leaders may not take the initiative and many parents will either be intimidated or not feel free to invite themselves. I’ve found that simply taking the initiative to get parents involved is met by far more enthusiasm than resistance. This often requires some good conversations with our students ahead of time, too, as some of them may be horrified at the thought of Mom and Dad tagging along next Saturday afternoon.
Jeff Mattesich (Associate Pastor of Children and Students at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena): The main obstacles are fear, politics, and comfort. Many parents have successfully learned how to live out their Christianity without having to face the issue of justice. Their own personal theology does not require them to do so. Many times our justice efforts are towards those who are on the fringe of society and that comes with a large amount of fear based on stereotypes and a lack of real experience with "those kinds” of people.
Hal Hamilton (Youth and College Team Leader at First United Methodist in Tulsa, Oklahoma): There are lots of reasons, but I think a primary one is our desire for short-term gratification. We are trained by our culture to consume and achieve quickly, but those are difficult goals in justice and service work. In addition, I think we as youth pastors are often poor communicators. Parents are not confident that their youth pastor is organized enough, prepared enough, and oriented enough to comfort their fears and keep their kid safe.
[This blog post is the fourth in a series provided by Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry. cyfm.net]
In your experience, what keeps teenagers’ parents from being involved in a youth ministry's justice work?
Terry Linhart (Dean of the School of Religion and Philosophy of Bethel College in Indiana): I think there is, unfortunately, still a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the word “justice.” I find that many parents, even youth workers, see the word and associate it as lying at the other end of the theological spectrum from evangelism. This is still a leftover issue from the conservative/liberal battles of the 1960’s and it’s an artificial dichotomy we need to correct. From a kingdom perspective, the two go hand-in-hand.
Sandy Liu (Pastor of Youth and Children at Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston): Parents are often too busy with their own life priorities (job stress, over-scheduled family activities, etc.). They let themselves be tyrannized by the urgent and end up forgetting what’s important.
Dave Livermore (Executive Director of the Global Learning Center at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary): For one thing, I'm not sure they're invited to do so. Either the students or their leaders may not take the initiative and many parents will either be intimidated or not feel free to invite themselves. I’ve found that simply taking the initiative to get parents involved is met by far more enthusiasm than resistance. This often requires some good conversations with our students ahead of time, too, as some of them may be horrified at the thought of Mom and Dad tagging along next Saturday afternoon.
Jeff Mattesich (Associate Pastor of Children and Students at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena): The main obstacles are fear, politics, and comfort. Many parents have successfully learned how to live out their Christianity without having to face the issue of justice. Their own personal theology does not require them to do so. Many times our justice efforts are towards those who are on the fringe of society and that comes with a large amount of fear based on stereotypes and a lack of real experience with "those kinds” of people.
Hal Hamilton (Youth and College Team Leader at First United Methodist in Tulsa, Oklahoma): There are lots of reasons, but I think a primary one is our desire for short-term gratification. We are trained by our culture to consume and achieve quickly, but those are difficult goals in justice and service work. In addition, I think we as youth pastors are often poor communicators. Parents are not confident that their youth pastor is organized enough, prepared enough, and oriented enough to comfort their fears and keep their kid safe.
[This blog post is the fourth in a series provided by Fuller Seminary's Center for Youth and Family Ministry. cyfm.net]
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posted by CYFM at 5:31 PM
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