Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

This passage is often used to address parenting of young children.  My prayer through this article is that we will grow in our understanding of the importance of training our children for serving in God’s church. 

I look around each Sunday in our services and I am so encouraged by the presence of so many young boys and girls.  I am also encouraged by the parents who I know are training up their children in the way they should go.

We have a very important responsibility as God’s church to train our children for service.  For the boys it includes such areas as leading prayers, leading songs, and even preaching.  It is also just as important that we provide training for the girls in the areas of service they can be involved in.

I am a firm believer in the need for churches to make sure their children are being trained for service.  A good test for congregations in this area is to determine how many preachers or missionaries have been produced from their training.  I know that Tri-Lakes church of Christ is overflowing with potential in these areas as we are so richly blessed with such wonderful young people.

I have been involved with a training program for many years which is called Young Timothy’s.  It is a simple training program where I sit down with the young men of the congregation and teach them how to ………….

Through discussion with our elders and deacon of youth we have decided to implement this program for the church.  I am planning our first session on Sunday, Oct. 18^th immediately following Potluck.  If we could allow our young men to get through the food line at the first then our session could be going on while the parents are finishing eating and cleaning.  We would finish by the time the parents were ready to go home.  The first session will be about leading prayers.

There is also an immediate need for a woman or women to take the lead in presenting the same type of training for our young women of the congregation which will be known as the Tabitha program.