Mainstream Media

Have you seen this piece that WCCO did this week?  It is about teaching religion to children and whether parents should "force" their kids to attend church or let them decide on their own terms.

Their answer: neither.

Really it comes down to what we say all the time - parents should lead by example, pass on that which they think is important and give children the basis to make the decision for themselves when the time comes.  That is all we can really do.  Forcing church upon kids, particularly when parents aren't involved is counterproductive, so is never exposing your children to the community and traditions of worship, Christian education and church in general.

As a parent I don't always like all the pressure to give our kids the right balance of everything they need: academics, extracurricular activities, food groups, socialization, vaccinations whatever.  The fact of the matter is that we are main source for our children to see how all of these things apply to life as a productive, happy, faithful adult.  And it can be overwhelming to figure out how it works, but as this report points out it can sometimes be as simple as leading by example.  Do you want your kids to go to church when they are adults?  Then take them to church and go as a family.  Do you want your children to follow along in the service ?  Show them how, open to the hymns, sing along, and model the behavior.

These things aren't hard, they just take the time and dedication to do them.  And we as a church need to accept that children will occasionally be loud and disruptive and know that it is a blessing that they are there to be able to make noise!