Parental leadership lacking, pastor says

October 17, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

C. Shawn Tyson, the newly installed pastor of Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church, is emphatic about what he considers his most important message — the lack of parental leadership.

“Parents must stand up and take responsibility for raising their children,” he said during an interview Saturday before his installation. “I believe we have a crisis with our youth in Youngstown, particularly in the African-American community.

“The problem isn’t bad kids; it’s bad parents,” the pastor said.

Elder Tyson said he plans to focus on helping train young people how to raise children and to retain employment to help strengthen the family.

“It starts with parents’ being accountable for the children they bring into the world,” he said.

The pastor said strengthening families may be his most important mission.

“The strength of any church is the nuclear family, and I’m about to begin a series on the power of relationships to reinforce core values that have made this country and city great,” her said.

Another item on his agenda is involving the community in the public-education process.

“I’m a believer that it takes a village to raise a child, so I plan to be an advocate for children and education,” he said.

Elder Tyson said that he is not intimidated by having to follow in the footsteps of Bishop Norman Wagner who led Mount Calvary for nearly 40 years until his death last January.

“Bishop Wagner was a trailblazer, so there are many doors and opportunities that have been created for me because of his work,” he said. “Legacy is not a burden for me; it’s a blessing.”