Why We Do What We Do: Philosophy of Ministry for Messiah's Children's and Youth Ministries: Dave Langille, Priest Associate

I always get excited for the fall, and the kick-off to Sunday School and Youth Ministries here at Messiah. From time to time I like to share what I see as the basis for our ministry to families, the reason we do what we do. From a biblical and theological perspective, the primary responsibility for nurturing faith in Messiah's kids lives lies with the child's household (Acts 16:25-34).  As heads of the household parents have the ultimate responsibility for their children's walk with God.  When a child is baptized, the parents pledge the following (Book of Common Prayer p. 302).

"Will you be responsible for seeing that the child you present is brought up in the Christian faith and life?"

"Will you by your prayers and witness help this child  to grow into the full stature of Christ?"

Yet parents, especially today, need help from the church to fulfill their commitment to their children.  We also see some children in our ministries who have no parents in the church.  With this in mind it is the church itself, the 'household of faith' that comes alongside Godly parents, or in the case where there are no parents in the church, provides Godly para-parents.  In Biblical terms, the household included at least three generations of the same family, friends of the family and even aliens, or transients.  To extend the metaphor we all, as a congregation, have responsibility for all our kids faith.

The way we do this formally is through creating separate generational ministries for children and youth. The way we do this informally is through relationships, offering to be present to and serve our children and youth in ministry: nursery caregiver, Children's Chapel leader, Sunday school teacher, youth leaders, special event chaperones, and so on.  By simply offering one's self and one's time we become the household of faith for all our kids, whether they have family here or not.  When there are parents present we assist them in their primary role.  When there are no parents present we become spiritual surrogates, assisting these parents in ways they may not know or understand.  In any case, those who serve our children and youth answer the question asked at Baptism:

"Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ"?

One might ask where clergy and church staff fit in this picture?  It is for those discerned and called--Priests, and in our case Summer Interns--who facilitate and create structure within the church for parents to fulfill their parenting responsibilities and the congregation to fulfill their shared responsibility as the Household of Faith.

The primary responsibility of clergy in our model is to "equip the saints for the work of ministry". (Eph 4:12)  We do this by coming alongside parents and offering ministries that assist them in bringing up their child in the faith, and by designing ministry opportunities that match leader's gifts to children's needs.  The role of staff in equipping the saints involves envisioning, recruiting, training, nurturing, and supporting our leaders.  Our ministry to our lay ministers has three sets of goals: our goals for the kids, our goals for our ministers and our goals for ourselves:

1. Our goal for our kids is to see all of them having an opportunity to respond to the gospel and to see them becoming Christian adults. 
2. Our goal for our ministers see them disciple and equip all our children.
3. Our goal for ourselves is to see all our ministers discipled and equipped as leaders, which in turn disciples and equips all our kids. 

This is why we do what we do in Children's and Youth Ministries here at Messiah.