Do You Want Your Kids To Stay In Church? Try This. [InGoodFaith] What is the best way
By Pastor George Anderson
to ensure that your children don’t quit church entirely when they grow up? Is it to make the church more hip? Change the music? Install high-tech lighting? Make the sermon more practical? Do all of the above? Would you be surprised if it is none of those things? So what is the single most critical factor for helping your kids stay in church? It’s easy… and it’s not. So, what is it? Dads, are you paying attention? You take your kids to church. According to one recent study (conducted in Switzerland), the most critical factor in determining the religious practice of the next generation is the religious practice of their fathers. So, why should a study conducted in Switzerland be of any interest to us? I mean, only about 1 in 10 ever attend church in that country. Exactly!
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Canton Family Life | MAY 2018
up to 75% of his children will grow up to attend church! It just goes to prove the old adage that values are more caught than taught. Our values, by and large, become our children’s values. So, stop trying to get your kids to be the person you want them to be, and start being the person you want them to be!
Some in Switzerland are very concerned that Christianity is lost, and wonder what — if anything — can be done about it. Have you not noticed that the U.S. is becoming more secular? Here’s what their research discovered: When neither parent attends church, chances are 80% that their children will never attend. When just the mother attends, only 30% of their children will become regular church-goers. But when the father is a regular church attender,
Mothers, if you’re the only hope for your kids, please don’t quit! Hang in there. You may be their only salvation. But dads — you are the key. If you’re still in the game, you’ve got to be a starter, not a bench warmer.
Dr. George Anderson is pastor of Rising Hills Church, 3635 Univeter Road, Canton. RisingHillsChurch.org
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