Slides from the workshop, Turning Parents into Partners, led by Anthony Prince at the 2012 Kidmin Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

2. Turning Parents into Partners:
Family Ministry Workshop
KIDMIN 2012 (#kidmin12)
Anthony Prince

3. A New Generation
of Families
• The definition of family is changing
• When your church talks about families,
it needs to move away from this…

4. A New Generation
of Families
• We define “Family” for our
congregations with the…
• Stories we tell
• Stories we write
• Stories we show

5. Be Like-able
• People help who they like
• Leverage social media: be a person
• Return phone calls and emails
• Smile. Often.

6. Casting a Vision for
Partnership
• Choose your language well
• You cast vision with what you:
• Say
• Print
• Show
• Celebrate
• Help parents imagine what end they’re
aiming for

7. Resources for Vision Casting

8. Resources for Vision Casting (cont.)

9. The Parent is the Expert
not the Enemy
• You are not the greatest influencer in a
child’s life
• Talk as though you’re on the same team
• Remind your team: you don’t serve
children, you serve families
• Speak partnership into reality

10. Families are Busy
• Families are being pulled in more
directions than a decade ago
• Parents are already overwhelmed.
Adding to that doesn’t help.
• Do what matters before it matters so
that, when it matters, you’re already
doing it.

11. The Family & Technology Report
• How can churches help families in
the digital age?
• Has technology had a positive or
negative influence on families?
• How is technology shaping family
time?
• How many parents are “tech
addicts”?
• What conflicts are families having
about technology?
• Do families take “sabbaths” from
technology?
• Do parents place limits on the
family’s use of technology?

12. How Families Spend Time
Time in Minutes Parents Teens/Tweens
Television 71 65
Using the internet 63 67
Talking with kids/parents 43 29
Watching movies 42 48
Listening to music 36 53
Driving somewhere together 33 35
Talking on the phone 26 20
Emailing 18 10
Playing video games 15 39
Texting 12 32
Playing board games as a family 12 12
Praying or reading scripture together 9 8

13. Not Everyone Cares
• The 20/80 Rule
• There should always be new families that
need to catch up. Act like they’re there.
• The “Take Home Page Challenge”

14. Determining Levels of
Engagement
• Not showing up
• Showing up
• Showing up regularly
• Asking you what their child learned
• Asking their child what they learned
• Talking about Jesus/The Bible/Faith at home
• Telling others about Jesus

15. Baby Steps into
Partnership
Consider…
•Calendar Alignment
•Table Talks
•Identifying your “A” Team