I posted some comments on CMConnect about the lessons church staff and volunteers in children’s and family ministry can learn from the way my colleagues in child psychiatry approach the families we serve in practice. Here’s a link to the full post on CM Connect…

Allow me to share an excerpt from the post. The context involves my insistence that parents have the final say on treatment decisions for their kids, because they are far more “expert” than I can ever be when it comes to knowing what’s best for their child:

I’m not the expert…You are! I’ve met your kid a couple of times-you’ve known them for their entire life and have spent more time with them than anyone else. You know more about them than I’ll ever know. You’re the expert-I’m your consultant. I’ll make you aware of the tools and resources that are out there to help your kid, but you’ll make the final decision.

Anything else would be completely disempowering to the parent and pretty soon, they’d be looking to me every time they have to make a parenting decision.

Don’t the same principles apply when it comes to spiritual development? I’m curious in the perspective of other parents, especially parents of kids with disabilities. Churches appear to give lip service to the concept of viewing parents as partners in the spiritual development of kids, but do their actions match their words?

Updated February 27, 2013

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