How To Teach a Parents + Students Combined Series

At our church last spring, I taught a nine-week series to both our middle & high school students AND their parents. A parents + students combined series was an idea I heard about at a Sticky Faith learning lab at the 2011 National Youth Workers' Convention. Since that time, the idea seems to have caught fire as I've heard about more and more youth workers doing these. And for good reason--there's a slew of blessings that are in store for the church that connects parents with their kids in an environment where faith can be openly discussed. With this in mind, I want to offer some practical tips on how to pull one of these off.*

1. Choose what you teach wisely. I taught on Sticky Faith. (All my lessons can be found here, and you're more than welcome to use them.) My friend Barry Throneberry has taught on the book The DNA of Parent-Teen Relationships by Gary & Greg Smalley. Ask your students and parents what topics they would like to talk about. But be sure that the material you choose speaks to and is relevant to both parents and students. Also, you may want to provide take-home discussion sheets or devotionals based on the lessons for families to use during the week.

2. Choose how you teach wisely. Don't speak to one group excessively more than the other: the neglected ones might tune you out completely. If you're a younger youth minister like me, approach the situation humbly. Remind your parents that you can't speak with authority on raising teenagers because you've never been in their shoes. But also remember that you are probably your church's resident expert on building faith in young people. This gives you enough credibility to speak confidently. If you want an extra boost to your credibility, consider asking an older church member--an elder or youth deacon who has teenage children--to co-teach with you.

3. Host the class in a neutral zone. Avoid the adult classroom, but don't have it in your youth room either. You don't want one group feeling like they're impinging on the other's territory. Whether we like it or not, space and place are big deals for us humans. So locate the class in a neutral zone, like a fellowship hall or church gym.

4. Emphasize that the series is temporary. Inevitably, many of your students will not be excited about being in class with their parents (and in some settings, vice-versa). Say things like, "It's only nine weeks, and then we'll go back to how it was." Be sure you have a stated end to the series, and sell it as a temporary arrangement.

5. Acclimate everyone to the new environment gradually. For instance, in our series we had parent tables and student tables for the first few weeks before mixing everyone together. We slowly waded into this new experience instead of immediately diving head-first into the deep end. If you want open communication in your class, then create a comfortable class environment for everyone. Additionally, I would never require family units to sit together since you run the risk of alienating students whose parents don't attend. Keep those students in mind as you plan.

What other suggestions or ideas do you have?


*My friend Barry Throneberry taught a class about this at a youth ministers' retreat I attended. Another friend, Luke Dockery, is gearing up to teach one of these. I am weaving some of their insights with my own here.