When church attendance isn’t simple: Parenting, faith, and the beauty of flexibility

When our children were young, attending church on Sundays and midweek was a regular, prioritised part of our weekly rhythm. If you’d asked me back then, with toddlers in tow, what parenting teenagers would look like, I’d have confidently told you church attendance would be mandatory.

I grew up in church, and although there were times I fell out of love with Sunday gatherings, I was always connected to youth work in some capacity. The expectation in our family was that we would always attend. I’m grateful for this, and for parents who planted us in church and modelled a love for the bride of Christ. I’m also grateful for the brilliant youth provision that meant I stayed connected.

Church on Sunday is an opportunity for the people of God to gather, worship, pray, and then scatter into the places where we are each called to live for Him. It’s not a religious obligation but a joyful part of our decision to follow Jesus. It’s a joy and a privilege to raise children in the church, so of course it would be a priority for us as our family grew.

As we’ve grown our family, we’ve had the privilege of raising children through birth, fostering and adoption — with all sorts of challenges, brilliance, stories, needs, and opinions. We’ve been rightfully challenged as we consider what should remain non-negotiable, and what is an important principle that might need to be outworked differently.