How to start going to church as a family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid and things at school got complicated in MS, as they do for many students, it was a relief to have a separate set of friends at Sunday School.

+1. This is why a strong youth group is so important

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid and things at school got complicated in MS, as they do for many students, it was a relief to have a separate set of friends at Sunday School.

+1. This is why a strong youth group is so important

Too bad that you have to believe, or pretend you believe, in God to be a member of the youth group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid and things at school got complicated in MS, as they do for many students, it was a relief to have a separate set of friends at Sunday School.

+1. This is why a strong youth group is so important

Too bad that you have to believe, or pretend you believe, in God to be a member of the youth group.

DP. At least at our church you wouldn't have to do that. You'd have to be open to hearing about God and you would have to not be actively spreading teaching that contradicts what the youth group leaders are teaching. But you wouldn't have to affirm what they are teaching, either.

That's pretty normal for most churches and Christian groups in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I come from backgrounds that believe in God but never consistently went to church. As a couple after marriage and even after kids, we haven’t gone to church. But as the kids are getting older (oldest is 7), they have been asking questions and kids at school talk about Jesus and God. We realized we want to make our faith more prominent in our family instead of being driven by busy schedules, etc.
But where do we begin? I don’t feel like we have a good compass.

Come to my church, McLean Bible Church. Families with young kids are very welcomed there! I will be happy to take you there and introduce around.

You just told us you are a racist, antisemite POS and belong to a MEGA cult church.

OP Mclean Bible is not a "church" it is a propaganda machine full of sick people.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

McLean Bible Church absolutely changed my life for the better. You don’t have to agree with its teachings but the charges you level here are completely unfounded.

Have you ever actually been to MBC?

Probably not, because if you have you would easily see that 40 percent, if not more, of the congregation is non-white. It’s a much more diverse place than where I work. Two of the three pastors who preach on a regular basis are black.

I am assuming when you wrote MEGA you meant MAGA and again this is simply not true. If anything, MBC has been embroiled in controversy and lawsuits over the last few years because they are not aligned with Trump enough in the eyes of some. There was even an entire documentary from Trump supporters who left the church and unfairly attacked David Platt, the main pastor. And having sat in the pews every weekend for the past three years, I can say without any doubt that there has never been a single partisan political message, even when that may have been the easy thing to do.

To the extent that policy issues come up — and I would say that’s relatively rare — MBC’s views can’t be easily pinned down. MBC is more conservative on social issues but more liberal on economic and issues like immigration, policing, etc. It’s doesn’t fix the typical boxes we see today.

DP. To be fair, most religiously orthodox churches don't. If you follow Scripture you usually end up with a set of political beliefs that are a poor match for either political party. That, and Christians who deeply care can also deeply disagree about the right political solution to an issue, even when they agree on the morality (or a-morality) of that issue.

[Anonymous]

One thing you should decide is where your comfort zone lies on the spectrum of anti-LGBT to 'open and affirming/welcoming to all.' If you prefer open and affirming/welcoming to all that will eliminate a lot of churches. Likewise if you prefer anti-LGBT, there are some churches that will not be for you. To me as a parent, it was important to find a church that was open and affirming, b/c I had no idea who my children will grow up to be and did not want to choose a church that would condemn them if they turn out to be gay, bisexual, etc. Working from that smaller list I chose a church that had a good sense of community and clergy that we liked.

[Anonymous]

Before commiting to even go take family to any church for a look see, you can often listen to sermons live or recorded.
McLean Bible has that https://mcleanbible.org/live/
So does Mt Olivet Methodist https://www.mountolivetumc.com/group-type/worship
https://www.youtube.com/c/MountOlivetUMCWorship1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I come from backgrounds that believe in God but never consistently went to church. As a couple after marriage and even after kids, we haven’t gone to church. But as the kids are getting older (oldest is 7), they have been asking questions and kids at school talk about Jesus and God. We realized we want to make our faith more prominent in our family instead of being driven by busy schedules, etc.
But where do we begin? I don’t feel like we have a good compass.

What were your reasons for why you didn't consistently go to church?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"We're leaving for church at 8am sunday" start there.

With kids used to sleeping in on Sundays? good luck

Lol kids don't sleep in. They are up at 630 in summer and 7 in winter no matter what.
But I can't do mornings which is why we go to Saturday night mass and out to eat after.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I come from backgrounds that believe in God but never consistently went to church. As a couple after marriage and even after kids, we haven’t gone to church. But as the kids are getting older (oldest is 7), they have been asking questions and kids at school talk about Jesus and God. We realized we want to make our faith more prominent in our family instead of being driven by busy schedules, etc.
But where do we begin? I don’t feel like we have a good compass.

Come to my church, McLean Bible Church. Families with young kids are very welcomed there! I will be happy to take you there and introduce around.

McClean is fundamentalist, isn't it? Pp did not specify any denomination, but may not want to go fundamentalist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid and things at school got complicated in MS, as they do for many students, it was a relief to have a separate set of friends at Sunday School.

+1. This is why a strong youth group is so important

Too bad that you have to believe, or pretend you believe, in God to be a member of the youth group.

DP. At least at our church you wouldn't have to do that. You'd have to be open to hearing about God and you would have to not be actively spreading teaching that contradicts what the youth group leaders are teaching. But you wouldn't have to affirm what they are teaching, either.

That's pretty normal for most churches and Christian groups in this area.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"We're leaving for church at 8am sunday" start there.

With kids used to sleeping in on Sundays? good luck

Lol kids don't sleep in. They are up at 630 in summer and 7 in winter no matter what.

Yes. Somewhere on God's green earth kids who sleep in must exist, but I do not know of any.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"We're leaving for church at 8am sunday" start there.

With kids used to sleeping in on Sundays? good luck

Lol kids don't sleep in. They are up at 630 in summer and 7 in winter no matter what.

Yes. Somewhere on God's green earth kids who sleep in must exist, but I do not know of any.

Kids who are in late adolescence sleep in. It's a good way to avoid church.

[Anonymous]

If you find a church you like, please make sure they are transparent about their finances. You should be able to see how much money they take in and where it goes. If they can't or won't share this information, that's a red flag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you follow Scripture you usually end up with a set of political beliefs that are a poor match for either political party.

+1

And partisan folks of any color rarely understand this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you follow Scripture you usually end up with a set of political beliefs that are a poor match for either political party.

+1

And partisan folks of any color rarely understand this.

I posted earlier about MBC and I completely agree.