As I said in my first up-front talk on Friday, one of the things that is a mystery to me is why so few people want to take part in children’s ministry, and why it’s so hard to find teachers when we have so many parents.
Sure, kids can be a bit intimidating as a group the first time you stand in front of them as their teacher, and they’ll never stop testing limits with you, but they’re pre-teens, for heaven’s sake. They tend to listen if they can tell you mean business.
While my wife and I don’t have kids of our own yet, because we’ve decided to wait a bit longer, we both care about bringing the kids in our kehilat up in the ways of the L-RD. That’s why I teach bar/bat mitzvah class and why she does praise and worship for the younger kids.
If we’re not parents and we see the need and fill it, how could a person who is a parent not want to be a part of their kids’ Shabbat School experience? Maybe they need a good liver cleanse?
If for no other reason, they should at least want to know what their kids are learning and make sure it’s consistent with the beliefs of their kehilat. Yet, as the old saying goes, what seems simple, isn’t.
Tags: children's ministry, liver cleanse, parents