Trinity Bible ChapelTrinity Bible ChapelTrinity Bible ChapelTrinity Bible Chapel
  • Jesus
  • About
    • Service Times & Location
    • Our Mission
    • Our Four Pillars
    • Our History
    • What We Believe
      • Our Doctrinal Statement
      • Specific Issues
        • Baptism and Communion
        • Church Government
        • Church Membership
        • Church Planting Philosophy
        • Church Structure
        • Counseling Philosophy
        • Creation, Evolution and God’s Sovereignty
        • Eternal Security of the Believer
        • Sufficiency of Scripture
        • Spiritual Warfare
        • The Trinity
        • Women in Ministry
        • Worship
    • Church Staff
    • Job Opportunities
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Project Rehoboth
      • Rehoboth Updates
    • King Alfred Academy
  • Connect
    • New Here?
      • Welcome to Trinity!
      • What Should I Expect?
      • How Can I Be Saved?
      • Get Baptized
      • University Bus Shuttle
    • Get Connected
      • Step 1: Connect
      • Step 2: Consider
      • Step 3: Commit to a Small Group
      • Step 3: Commit to Serve
      • Step 4: Covenant in Membership
    • Resources
      • Weekly E-News
      • Events Calendar
      • Church App
      • Subscribe to Our Podcast
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Bible Reading Plans
      • Weddings
      • The Church At War Conference
      • Antichrist and His Ruin Documentary
  • Ministries
    • Trinity Kids
      • Parenting Resources
      • Web Protection Guide
      • Parenting Conference Audio
    • Trinity Youth
      • Youth Ministry Blog Posts
    • Small Groups
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Small Groups Blog Posts
      • Accountability Resources
    • University Bus Ministry
      • Adopt-A-Student Ministry
    • Worship Ministry
      • Family Worship
      • Weekend Song List
    • Sunday Support
    • Evangelism
      • Evangelism Videos
    • King Alfred Academy
    • Homeschool Collective
      • New to Homeschooling
      • Resources
      • Planning Pages
  • Sermons
    • Latest Sermon
    • View All by Date
    • View by Series
    • View by Preachers
    • View by Topics
    • View by Scriptures
    • Subscribe to Our Podcast
  • Blogs
    • The Pastor’s Blog
    • Trinity Ministry Blog
  • Give

The Pastor's Blog

By Jacob Reaume

A Vision for Dad Dominated Ministries

By Jacob Reaume | November 23, 2017 | Leave a Comment |
Tagged: abuse prevention, children, dads, fathers, parenting, youth ministry

I’m writing this mainly to the fathers of the church.  I am concerned about the ministries of our church that your children attend, namely the children and youth ministries.  I am not worried about the curriculum.  It is elder-approved and biblical through and through.  I am not fretting over the quality of the policies that are in place to protect your children.  We’re doing our best to provide a secure environment; procedures are in place; we screen our volunteers.  I’m not embarrassed over the facilities.  They are clean and spacious.

I am troubled that only a small percentage of the volunteers within those ministries are dads.

I am thankful for all the students, young adults, mothers, teenagers, and others who do serve the children and youth.  As a father, I thank each of you.  Thank you for serving the children and their families.  That you are serving does not trouble me.  Rather it is something for which I am abundantly grateful.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

What troubles me is not who is serving.  Rather I am troubled by who is not serving in the children and youth ministries.  I’d like to see those ministries dominated by dads.

What a man prioritizes is his priority.  When he delegates his responsibility to another it often communicates that that responsibility is secondary not primary.  Giving up a few hours a week to prepare a Bible lesson for kids says, “Teaching the Bible to kids is a priority.”  Serving as an assistant in the youth ministry affirms, “Protecting and influencing the little children matters.”  A man communicates priorities by prioritizing.

Nobody cares about protecting his kids more than a dad.  God designed men, especially fathers, to look out for predators.  And Scripture warns us that predators will attempt to infiltrate the church.  So, a great way to protect your children from wolves is to lead the ministries that serve your children.  You will have the opportunity to ensure that truth is taught and that children are treated properly.

Having more dads in the youth and children’s ministry would take a weight off my shoulders.  I am constantly working with the staff and the elders to evaluate policies designed to prevent abuse in the church.  I want our church’s abuse prevention policies to be air-tight, and if I could I’d have those policies and procedures audited ten times a day.  But better than policies and better than procedures is the presence of dad.  Predators go for the weak, not the strong.  Strong fathers will scare predators away more than will any police check or abuse prevention policy.  I’m doing my very best, along with the elders and staff, to protect the children.  But I’d breath a sigh of relief if more dads served in the children and youth ministries.  I think the world is getting creepier by the day.  Frankly, more dads probably means less risk of perverts.

When I was child, the fathers were our hockey coaches and scout leaders.  Reflecting on that, I see the wisdom in it.  It not only provided security and displayed priorities, but it created memories.  Having my dad run the bench of our peewee hockey teams taught me and my brothers to love the game.  Still today we talk about dad coaching us and the times at the rink.  The day will likely come when you share a meal with all your children and grandchildren.  I hope they talk about times with dad at the rink or on the field, but most importantly I hope they talk about dad teaching the Scriptures.  So why not create those memories by serving in the children and youth ministries?

A former CFL player once told me about the two types of guys in a huddle.  “Some guys want the ball.  Some guys don’t.  You can see it in their eyes.”  The same is true with fathering.  Some guys want to be fathers.  Some want to delegate it.  There are many excellent fathers in our church who aren’t serving in the children and youth ministries.  So please, I’m not saying that your absence means you’re a bad dad.  Not at all.  I am only saying that the absence of dads in those ministries surprises me, knowing that so many good dads are in the church.

I think I’d rather see the fathers serve in children and youth ministries more than I’d like to see them in any other ministry of the church.  Our most important mission field is the children.  The fathers communicate importance by where they are.  Dads set priorities.  Dads protect kids.  Dads create memories.  And dads should dominate the children and youth ministries.


SHARE


Comments

Related Posts

  • We Lost our Constitutional Appeal: Now What?

    By Jacob Reaume | March 14, 2023

    The week before last the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled on Trinity Bible Chapel’s constitutional challenge.  I’ll talk about that in a moment, but first let me offer some background. Back in 2020 and 2021, the Canadian people got scared because the news said we were facing a death-dealing pandemic.  Our provincial government granted PremierRead more

  • Wine at the Lord’s Table: Our Broken Tradition

    By Jacob Reaume | February 9, 2023

    Paul, when admonishing the Corinthians to be orderly and proper at the Lord’s Supper, said, “For what I received from the Lord that I also delivered to you” (1 Corinthians 11:23).  In other words, the institution is a tradition that is passed hand to hand and generation to generation.  Starting with Jesus, He passed itRead more

  • The Rainbow Flag, Local Council, and Elmira’s Streets

    By Jacob Reaume | August 23, 2022

    Elmira is Ontario’s latest community to look at painting a trendy rainbow on one of it’s streets.  Apparently, the Canadian Association of Mental Health has requested that the municipality paint one on a local crosswalk as a show of support for the LGBTQS2+ community.  Those letters — LGBTQS2+ — are likely the latest alpha-numeric codeRead more

  • A Gay Bar with Free Math Lessons

    By Jacob Reaume | June 15, 2022

    I have been advising parents to pull their children from public schools for several years.  The primary objective of education should be to foster Christian virtue in the hearts of children.  Apparently this view was once shared by the majority of Ontarians to the point that they had it enshrined in law.  Section 264.1.c ofRead more

  • Protect Your Children from Public School

    By Jacob Reaume | June 9, 2022

    A few months ago, I reported (here) of a Waterloo Region public school teacher who the WRDSB chair censored at a board meeting.  Her offence?  She questioned whether school officials should be teaching children that hormone blockers are a good idea.  She did so while quoting a public school library book that presented hormone blockersRead more

Newer PostOlder Post

Top 5 Trending

  • What does “makes her commit adultery” mean? (Matt. 5:32)

    October 25, 2018
  • We Lost our Constitutional Appeal: Now What?

    March 14, 2023
  • Wine at the Lord’s Table: Our Broken Tradition

    February 9, 2023
  • King Alfred and Why He’s Called “Great”

    June 21, 2018
  • Yes, Bruxy Cavey Is A False Teacher

    July 11, 2018

Latest Posts

  • We Lost our Constitutional Appeal: Now What?

    March 14, 2023
  • Wine at the Lord’s Table: Our Broken Tradition

    February 9, 2023
  • The Rainbow Flag, Local Council, and Elmira’s Streets

    August 23, 2022
  • A Gay Bar with Free Math Lessons

    June 15, 2022
  • Protect Your Children from Public School

    June 9, 2022

About the Author

Jacob Reaume

Born and raised in Guelph, Jacob holds a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He became pastor of Trinity Bible Chapel in August, 2009. Jacob is married to his high school sweetheart, Joanna, and together they have six children.

CHURCH LOCATION
Address:    1373 Lobsinger Line
Waterloo, ON, N2J 4G8

Phone: 519-658-6333
Email: info@trinitybiblechapel.ca

NEW HERE?

  • Service Times & Location
  • Welcome to Trinity!
  • What Should I Expect?
  • How Can I Be Saved?
  • University Bus Shuttle
  • Our Mission
  • Our Doctrinal Statement

OUR MINISTRIES

  • Trinity Kids
  • Trinity Youth
  • Small Groups
  • University Bus Ministry
  • Worship Ministry
  • Sunday Support
  • Evangelism

GET CONNECTED

  • Step 1: Connect
  • Step 2: Consider
  • Step 3: Commit to a Small Group
  • Step 3: Commit to Serve
  • Step 4: Covenant in Membership
  • Get Baptized
  • Events Calendar
Trinity Bible Chapel on Rumble
Copyright © 2022 Trinity Bible Chapel
  • Jesus
  • About
    • Service Times & Location
    • Our Mission
    • Our Four Pillars
    • Our History
    • What We Believe
      • Our Doctrinal Statement
      • Specific Issues
        • Baptism and Communion
        • Church Government
        • Church Membership
        • Church Planting Philosophy
        • Church Structure
        • Counseling Philosophy
        • Creation, Evolution and God’s Sovereignty
        • Eternal Security of the Believer
        • Sufficiency of Scripture
        • Spiritual Warfare
        • The Trinity
        • Women in Ministry
        • Worship
    • Church Staff
    • Job Opportunities
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Project Rehoboth
      • Rehoboth Updates
    • King Alfred Academy
  • Connect
    • New Here?
      • Welcome to Trinity!
      • What Should I Expect?
      • How Can I Be Saved?
      • Get Baptized
      • University Bus Shuttle
    • Get Connected
      • Step 1: Connect
      • Step 2: Consider
      • Step 3: Commit to a Small Group
      • Step 3: Commit to Serve
      • Step 4: Covenant in Membership
    • Resources
      • Weekly E-News
      • Events Calendar
      • Church App
      • Subscribe to Our Podcast
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Bible Reading Plans
      • Weddings
      • The Church At War Conference
      • Antichrist and His Ruin Documentary
  • Ministries
    • Trinity Kids
      • Parenting Resources
      • Web Protection Guide
      • Parenting Conference Audio
    • Trinity Youth
      • Youth Ministry Blog Posts
    • Small Groups
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Small Groups Blog Posts
      • Accountability Resources
    • University Bus Ministry
      • Adopt-A-Student Ministry
    • Worship Ministry
      • Family Worship
      • Weekend Song List
    • Sunday Support
    • Evangelism
      • Evangelism Videos
    • King Alfred Academy
    • Homeschool Collective
      • New to Homeschooling
      • Resources
      • Planning Pages
  • Sermons
    • Latest Sermon
    • View All by Date
    • View by Series
    • View by Preachers
    • View by Topics
    • View by Scriptures
    • Subscribe to Our Podcast
  • Blogs
    • The Pastor’s Blog
    • Trinity Ministry Blog
  • Give
Trinity Bible Chapel