2026

Parent Forum

The Renew Church 2026 Parent Forum addresses two essential topics in the formation of our children and youth: the parent-first discipleship strategy and the epidemic of teen mental illness linked to the rise of smartphones and social media. Below, you will find both topics broken down into detailed sections, featuring full video recordings of our forum sessions and downloadable PDF notes. We have also included links to key resources, such as Forming Faith by Matt Markins, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, and helpful parental control apps and services

Part 1

Forming Faith

Effective child discipleship requires a unified partnership between parents and ministry leaders. At Renew, we believe parents must be intentional about their own spiritual growth while actively discipling their children at home; likewise, our ministry leaders are committed to intentionally equipping parents for this vital role. Moving forward, Renew is shifting its focus toward a “parent-first” strategy, placing a greater emphasis on empowering you to lead your family’s faith journey with confidence.

Download the Notes

Resources

Forming Faith

Forming Faith helps us understand what isn’t working, why it doesn’t work, and what we can do to build the church. Markins, Luce, and Handler―fathers and leaders―look at the blueprint often employed in children’s ministries that seems innovative but is greatly misguided. Forming Faith brings not only analysis; it provides biblically based, backed-by-research solutions to form lasting faith in our children.

Buy on Amazon

Part 2

THE ANXIOUS GENERATION

An epidemic of teen mental illness has suddenly arisen with the advent of the smartphone and social media. The negative effects on our youth have been devastating, including sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. Children are being destroyed and many parents feel helpless in how to respond. This session is designed to help educate parents on these startling trends, propose collective action solutions, and share resources that can be used at home.
Download the Notes

the anxious generation session 1: chapters 1-4

the anxious generation session 2: chapters 5-12

Resources

The Anxious Generation
In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the "collective action problems" that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.
Buy on Amazon

Hardware & OS-Level Security Solutions

A foundation for the youngest users via specialized devices with minimal app stores and safelists for contacts:

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Screen & Text Monitoring Solutions

Apps and services that scan texts, social media and websites, or takes screenshots to provide parental alerts for potential risks:

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Background Protection Solutions

Invisible filters at the network level that blur explicit images, block mature sites or manage all home devices:

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Screen Time Management Solutions

Break dopamine loops with app-specific timers, downtime routines and bedtime / wake-up schedules:

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Apple Screentime
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