Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

442.0. "Difficulty getting the family together for church" by CSC32::J_CHRISTIE (Peace: the Final Frontier) Tue Apr 21 1992 22:06

	My spouse would like it if we all attended the same church as
a family unit.  So would I, but it hasn't worked out very well in practice.

	Sharon and I are Quakers at heart, but the local Friends Meeting
(the Quaker equivalent to church) is very small (10 members) and offers
little for children beyond an impromptu Sunday School of widely varying
ages.  We attend Friends Meeting maybe 3 or 4 times a year, without our
children.

	My 17 year old stepdaughter, Jennifer, wants to be a part of the
special activities of the United Methodist church where we used to attend,
like the "Up With Youth" event she'll be attending this coming weekend.
But Sharon and I have grown increasingly distant from this particular church
and we feel no desire to become re-immersed in it.  We've managed to pull off
going to this church 2 or 3 times in the last 12 months, with our children.

	Our 12 year old son, Ricky, thinks every church is boring and would
rather not have anything to do with any of them.  He will tolerate sitting
in worship with us, however.

	I've become connected with a predominantly gay church (MCC), to which
I feel a genuine link and where I feel I have been called to ministry.  Here
again though, there are very few children; none on a regular basis.  I attend
this church pretty regularly, but without spouse and without children.  Easter
Sunday was the first Sunday my household had ever worshiped together at MCC.
It was a positive experience, even though upon our departure we found a little
pink tract placed under our windshield wiper advising us of how wrong and
wayward our thinking was (It's better than being harassed by the guy with
the bullhorn!).

	My question here is, have others here ever experienced difficulty in
either getting their household to church or getting their household to
compromise on selecting a single church to attend?

Peace,
Richard

    Richard,
    
    I am horrified that on Easter Sunday someone perhaps thinking
    themselves a better "Christian" would criticize how you and your family
    chose to worship.
    
    I have struggled with getting my two children to church on Sunday's.
    For a while I gave in with my son mainly because there was only one
    other boy in his church school class.  This year I have insisted more
    consistently and both my children attend more regularly.  I find with
    the children the more they attend the more they fit in.  At 11 and 13
    though, neither would chose to attend if given the option.
    
    Patricia

    
    Growing up in NY, we all went to church together.  However, in the
    evening my parents allowed my older brother and sister to attend
    another church that had different youth activities.  This church was 
    in the same denomination as ours (sister church), but I believe they would 
    have let them go to any Bible-believing churches.  Likewise, after we 
    moved out here, there were several occasions where my younger brother 
    and I were allowed to participate in activities with our sister church
    in the evenings.  Sunday morning we were always together.   Although,
    we were in a church that had many kids and good programs for them.
    I believe that kids need to be around other kids who have a solid 
    walk with God, otherwise it's too easy to stray.  My family also had
    many Christian families that we fellowshipped with outside of church.
    So I constantly had Christian influences in my life.  
    
    My personal opinion is that if you have kids, you need to be in a
    church that has things going on for them.  I believe that's a
    responsibility of Christian parents.  The churches we went to did
    and then the other churches our parents let us go to was an additional 
    treat.
    
    Jill