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

  • The Meaning of “Sabbath” in Colossians 2:16

    By Jacob Reaume | June 28, 2023

    The 4th Commandment, the one that pertains to the Sabbath, is the most contested of the Ten Commandments.  In fact it’s the only commandment that is actually contested among Christians who hold to an orthodox view of Scripture.  A number argue that the requirement of Sabbath is not for today.  It was for the OldRead more

  • The Discontentment Of Pride

    By Jacob Reaume | June 7, 2023

    The homosexual movement cannot be satisfied.  A short few years ago, they just wanted the right to be “married”.  So, overhauling millennia of tradition, the government tried to reinvent marriage for them. Just for them.  They overthrew a cornerstone of civilization.  And that wasn’t enough.  It was once “GLB.”  Then “LGB.”  Then “LGBT.”  “LGBTQ.”  IRead more

  • Is A Woman’s Hair The Headcovering of 1 Cor. 11?

    By Jacob Reaume | May 24, 2023

    Last week, I reviewed Dale Partridge’s book, A Covering for Glory (see here).  The book makes the case for women wearing headcoverings during worship services, as well as for men not wearing headcoverings during worship services.  I offered a favourable review, as I wholly support his position.  In 2017, I preached from 1 Corinthians 11:2-16Read more

  • Book Review: A Cover for Glory, by Dale Partridge

    By Jacob Reaume | May 16, 2023

    Dale Partridge wrote A Cover for Glory, which Relearn Press published just recently in 2023.  Partridge is the pastor of King’s Way Bible Church in Prescott, Arizona, and he leads several other ministries, including Reformation Seminary.  The book is an exegetical study of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, which is the biblical passage that instructs women toRead more

  • John Bunyan, Josh Buice, and Christian Nationalism

    By Jacob Reaume | April 25, 2023

    Christian Nationalism is all the chatter, occupying headspace for anyone who cares to listen.  The secular establishment has been given over to unthinkable manifold depravities, and some folks are looking for a better foundation than the poisoned fluidity of secularism.  As fluid and gender-fluid as secularism might be, the definition of Christian Nationalism might beRead more

Newer PostOlder Post

Top 5 Trending

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

    October 25, 2018
  • Forbidden Love – The Sons of God and the Daughters of Man, Part 2: The Argument

    September 9, 2014
  • Is A Woman’s Hair The Headcovering of 1 Cor. 11?

    May 24, 2023
  • The Bloodlines of Jesus

    October 13, 2014
  • The Meaning of “Sabbath” in Colossians 2:16

    June 28, 2023

Latest Posts

  • The Meaning of “Sabbath” in Colossians 2:16

    June 28, 2023
  • The Discontentment Of Pride

    June 7, 2023
  • Is A Woman’s Hair The Headcovering of 1 Cor. 11?

    May 24, 2023
  • Book Review: A Cover for Glory, by Dale Partridge

    May 16, 2023
  • John Bunyan, Josh Buice, and Christian Nationalism

    April 25, 2023

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