Youth groups? Do we need them? They always seem to have been around but they are a relatively new phenomenon in church life.
In the ‘old days’, when the family went to church, they all went, sat together, and went home again. It was assumed, sometimes wrongly, that parents would be training their children in spiritual matters and that training would include the family attending church. Those were the days, some might say. That was when children were always obedient and happily sat through church services. I doubt it.
Family first
Of course, the major part of a child’s growth in maturity must come from their family however that family is made up. They clearly have a responsibility to train their child in the ‘discipline and instruction of the Lord’ (Ephesians 6.4, ESV). God gave parents the gift of that child to train in obedience and to teach and model what it means to be a believer. That job is never completed until the day you die. Many parents don’t find this easy, particularly if they don’t have Christian parents themselves. They have little to base their training on and, if their church gives them no guidance, essentially they have to work it out for themselves.
