I’m a relatively new parent. Both of my sons are under the age of 3. Even though neither are in school or religious education, I am blessed with an opportunity to still teach them many things during this pandemic. I cannot imagine what parents of other kids who are older and of school-age must be going through at a time like this. Perhaps this is another opportunity for us in the church. How are we taking care of parents of those who are in our ministry?
Most of us are still doing our weekly via Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc. But are we reaching out to our parents to see how they are doing? Parents are working from home, and that is a new reality. For others, they have been furloughed or have been terminated. This is the field in which Christ is calling us to work in this day and age. Email, text, or call those parents to find out how we can intercede and pray for them. Or is there something that we as a community can offer them to help their family in a time of need?
As youth ministers, we are also called to be catechists. It’s our job to educate young people and their families on the good news of Jesus Christ. Now would be a good time for us to look at how we resource parents to fill the voids created in this new reality. We should be using email, websites, and social media as a way to give parents adequate resources to connect with your teens in a better way. Some of these resources can be made in-house ourselves or our ministry team. We can look to publishers like Life Teen, Ascension Press, Dynamic Catholic, etc. to fill in the gaps. Consider offering these resources.
None of this is easy, and I don’t think God means it to be. Most things worth doing in life are not easy. Connect with parents. Let them know how valued they are, especially when it comes to the formation of their teens. This is a time when we need to walk together.