3 tips to help your youth and children love your church

As soon-to-be empty nesters, it seems we’ve nearly completed each level of the Christian parent’s “We’re all going to church this Sunday” quest!

We survived the level 1 by the skin of our teeth as Players 1 and 2 (our two daughters) cried their way through church and we wondered why we made the effort to attend in the first place. We seemed to sail through level 2, the primary school years, only occasionally having to battle the ‘It’s sooo boring’ beast. We even managed to avoid the dreaded ‘Game Over’, that many parents of teenagers’ experience during the difficult level 3.

It may be a bit too early to celebrate, but this past Sunday, it felt as if a giant ‘You Win!’ flashed across our faces as we walked back to the car park after church and both Player 1 and Player 2 exclaimed, “We love our church!”

We know the mission isn’t easy. Because my wife and I are also vocational youth ministers, we listen regularly to parents who are struggling to help their children engage with church and feel like giving up. Although there’s no cheat code that will ensure success, we want to share our top three tips for staying in the game and helping your children love the church – and none of them involve pushing buttons that are not on your controller like making the preacher more engaging, the worship livelier, or the biscuit selection more plentiful.

Tip 1: Make connecting with God’s family a priority

Both my wife and I grew up in a unique era – and area – where nearly everyone in town went to church on Sunday mornings. Choosing not to attend wasn’t really an option and, because sports and community groups didn’t meet on Sunday mornings, there wasn’t much competition. But our own children have grown up in a very different culture. At times we’ve wrestled with how to help them attend church because they want to and not just because …….