Maybe by now you are becoming more and more convinced from the now many blog writers and resources (like from Wild Frontier!) encouraging you to include parents and your church family into your youth ministry in a greater measure. Certainly you’ve been swayed by the great amount of statistical research that backs this up.  We continue to compile these numbers at Support Statistics.

But you still may have questions as to how to incorporate this new practice of youth ministry into your local church situation.  This may be true especially if you’ve been at your church for some time and the youth ministry is clicking along well.  This change would come easier if there are apparent problems in the youth ministry or if you are already in a transitional season.   No matter what stage the youth ministry is in, you know that you know that you need to make this transition.  There is this Holy-Spirit nagging that you must listen to.  So here are some tips.

A paraclete is someone who walks alongside someone.  We’ve got our cleats on to walk alongside you.

In Pair of Cleats, we have often encouraged you to stretch your teaching to new creative “frontiers.”  We strongly believe in the use of many different creative teaching methods and leaning less on “speaching” methods.  So I was encouraged to read this quote from Richard Ross, someone I respect, in the current Group Magazine (January/February 2010):  “A strategy I have grave concerns about is one that places students almost always in a passive, listening mode while leaders speak or talk to them about spiritual things.