Over the last week and a half, I read Sticky Faith (Youth Leader Edition) on my Kindle. There were many times during the process that I click on the highlight button. There was a ton of good information throughout the book and a lot of things that we will end up using at CTS and many quotes and thoughts that we will throw out on the big board for discussion.
As you know (or will know), I am a huge fan of “Orange” and they did an article about the book and an interview with Karen. Here is a “snip it” of it:
Dr. Kara Powell and the team at the Fuller Youth Institute have been working hard for the last six years to try to figure out how to help kids have long-term faith, or “Sticky Faith”. We asked Kara to share a few excerpts from her brand new book that would be most helpful to parents wanting to intentionally set their kids on a lifetime trajectory of faith and service.
This is an excerpt from Chapter 5 of Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids
Find Compromise If Your Kid Doesn’t Want to Go to Church
About half of the time I share the importance of intergenerational worship with parents, I get asked,“Should I make my kid go to church?” Believe me, as much as I am an advocate for intergenerational worship, I’m not naïve about how teenagers feel about sitting through church. I felt that way a fair amount myself as a kid.
This is a tough question, one I wish we could discuss over coffee so I could ask more questions about your kids and family. But not knowing your specific family, let me say this: while your long-term goal is intergenerational connection primarily in and with a church family, the first hurdle is to help your kid to feel like they are part of something they are choosing and enjoy. Forced friendships do not work very well for adolescents. Depending on the issues your child is dealing with and why they do not want to go, perhaps you could consider the following:
1. Make sure your kids know that, as important as church is to you as the parent, you respect their desire not to go.
2. Find ways to connect your child to Christian friends in casual or organic settings.
3. Find out what, if any, faith activities they would like or are willing to be part of.
4. In the end, do your best to seek a compromise.
For her answer to be expounded upon, please visit the original article which can be found here.
Over the next week or so, I am going to open up the book on my Kindle and click through the highlights and put down some of the ones that mean the most to me and how I am wrestling with them and what it might mean to me and my thought process at CTS.
Ministry In The Trenches 