How to start going to church as a family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I sure wish this statement made a modicum of sense.

What don't you understand? PP thinks that it's too bad that people have to believe in God, or pretend to believe, in order to have a separate set of friends. Maybe the kid could find a separate set of friends at the playground or somewhere where you didn't have to believe in God or pretend you believe in God, like Sunday school, which is affiliated with church.

Are you suggesting that there are Sunday schools that don't teach about God? Maybe in the unitarian church.

No PP said that it’s too bad you have to believe in God to go to youth group. Which is oxymoronic in the highest order, given that the purpose of church youth group, by definition, is to associate with others who worship and learn about gods love.

Their purpose may be to associate with others who worship. In my experience, there is usually only a couple of die-hard believers, and the rest are there for the social aspect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I sure wish this statement made a modicum of sense.

What don't you understand? PP thinks that it's too bad that people have to believe in God, or pretend to believe, in order to have a separate set of friends. Maybe the kid could find a separate set of friends at the playground or somewhere where you didn't have to believe in God or pretend you believe in God, like Sunday school, which is affiliated with church.

Are you suggesting that there are Sunday schools that don't teach about God? Maybe in the unitarian church.

No PP said that it’s too bad you have to believe in God to go to youth group. Which is oxymoronic in the highest order, given that the purpose of church youth group, by definition, is to associate with others who worship and learn about gods love.

PP here and what I meant was that it's too bad that "youth groups" are currently associated with churches. There should be other youth groups that are not associated with churches so it was not assumed that belonging to a youth group meant believing in God.

Have you never heard of Girl Scouts or Bot Scouts?

Don't they push Christianity too?

Boy Scouts have traditionally been more associated with religion/Christianity than Girl Scouts. A lot of BS troops were integrated with a church, and some private religious schools practically require all students to participate in a troop after school (boys and girls).

After the BS finally broke away from their historical anti-gay stance (at least on paper) about 10 years ago, many religious supporters of BS troops backed away and switched to alternate, more religious friendly replacements for BS troops.

The GS have for decades been more LGBT friendly. While the GS Promise has the word "God", they allow girls to substitute any word, even a secular word like love. Looking back on my GS summer camp counselors 40+ years ago, it's clear many of them were lesbians. GS culture has been welcoming to LGBT for a long time. Most GS troops in my unit were not affiliated directly with churches (or more specifically, churches were not affiliated with GS). However, troop leaders and GS can steer their activities any way they wish, so I'm sure there is occasional overlap. My troop met at a church, but we never attended any church functions, and only 1 of the scouts was a member of that church.

Good idea. Separate young, impressionable girls away from their families and introduce them to "alternative" lifestyles.

Grooming at its finest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I sure wish this statement made a modicum of sense.

What don't you understand? PP thinks that it's too bad that people have to believe in God, or pretend to believe, in order to have a separate set of friends. Maybe the kid could find a separate set of friends at the playground or somewhere where you didn't have to believe in God or pretend you believe in God, like Sunday school, which is affiliated with church.

Are you suggesting that there are Sunday schools that don't teach about God? Maybe in the unitarian church.

No PP said that it’s too bad you have to believe in God to go to youth group. Which is oxymoronic in the highest order, given that the purpose of church youth group, by definition, is to associate with others who worship and learn about gods love.

Their purpose may be to associate with others who worship. In my experience, there is usually only a couple of die-hard believers, and the rest are there for the social aspect.

You could get the social aspect by joining a secular sports team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

It's evangelical (in the old, theological sense), but not fundamentalist. There are a very scant few fundamentalist churches in the DMV.

I literally took a class breaking down these definitions - among other things - in college. Fundamentalist != evangelical.

Please spell out the differences in your mind between Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches. It seems to me that some churches are both, i.e., spreading the word (evangelical) and strictly according to the Bible (fundamentalist).

Evangelical churches historically (I make no representations about what is called "evangelicalism" in the modern political climate in America) follow the "Bebbington Quadrilateral"

Biblicism: The Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God, the ultimate source for faith and conduct, seen as inerrant and trustworthy.
Conversionism: A belief in the necessity of a personal "born again" experience, a spiritual transformation where individuals turn to Christ for salvation.
Crucicentrism: A focus on Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross as the means for redemption from sin, emphasizing his bodily resurrection and ascension.
Activism: A commitment to sharing the gospel (evangelism) and living out one's faith through good works and ministry.

Fundamentalists on the other hand aren't interested in being part of the world at all, but tend to burrow inward into their church cultures. Their views are often much more narrow than evangelicalism (which is a pretty big tent spanning Protestant denominations with fairly diverse beliefs on things like baptism, communion, church government, church membership, and more) - things like a strict 7 day literal creation where evangelicals often welcome anything up to theistic evolution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

It's evangelical (in the old, theological sense), but not fundamentalist. There are a very scant few fundamentalist churches in the DMV.

I literally took a class breaking down these definitions - among other things - in college. Fundamentalist != evangelical.

Please spell out the differences in your mind between Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches. It seems to me that some churches are both, i.e., spreading the word (evangelical) and strictly according to the Bible (fundamentalist).

Evangelical churches historically (I make no representations about what is called "evangelicalism" in the modern political climate in America) follow the "Bebbington Quadrilateral"

Biblicism: The Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God, the ultimate source for faith and conduct, seen as inerrant and trustworthy.
Conversionism: A belief in the necessity of a personal "born again" experience, a spiritual transformation where individuals turn to Christ for salvation.
Crucicentrism: A focus on Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross as the means for redemption from sin, emphasizing his bodily resurrection and ascension.
Activism: A commitment to sharing the gospel (evangelism) and living out one's faith through good works and ministry.

Fundamentalists on the other hand aren't interested in being part of the world at all, but tend to burrow inward into their church cultures. Their views are often much more narrow than evangelicalism (which is a pretty big tent spanning Protestant denominations with fairly diverse beliefs on things like baptism, communion, church government, church membership, and more) - things like a strict 7 day literal creation where evangelicals often welcome anything up to theistic evolution.

There is really a spectrum of these definitions in reality. I wouldn't associate with either (fundamentalist or evangeicals ) ever again in my life.
Not to mention "evangelicals" idea of "spreading the word" is abhorrent in most contexts. Ask me how I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

It's evangelical (in the old, theological sense), but not fundamentalist. There are a very scant few fundamentalist churches in the DMV.

I literally took a class breaking down these definitions - among other things - in college. Fundamentalist != evangelical.

Please spell out the differences in your mind between Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches. It seems to me that some churches are both, i.e., spreading the word (evangelical) and strictly according to the Bible (fundamentalist).

Why does this bother you to stick the label to something you never attend. OP never specified her requirements for the church she is looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I sure wish this statement made a modicum of sense.

What don't you understand? PP thinks that it's too bad that people have to believe in God, or pretend to believe, in order to have a separate set of friends. Maybe the kid could find a separate set of friends at the playground or somewhere where you didn't have to believe in God or pretend you believe in God, like Sunday school, which is affiliated with church.

Are you suggesting that there are Sunday schools that don't teach about God? Maybe in the unitarian church.

No PP said that it’s too bad you have to believe in God to go to youth group. Which is oxymoronic in the highest order, given that the purpose of church youth group, by definition, is to associate with others who worship and learn about gods love.

PP here and what I meant was that it's too bad that "youth groups" are currently associated with churches. There should be other youth groups that are not associated with churches so it was not assumed that belonging to a youth group meant believing in God.

Have you never heard of Girl Scouts or Bot Scouts?

Don't they push Christianity too?

No. Colleague is one of the leaders of a troop that is mostly Buddhist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

It's evangelical (in the old, theological sense), but not fundamentalist. There are a very scant few fundamentalist churches in the DMV.

I literally took a class breaking down these definitions - among other things - in college. Fundamentalist != evangelical.

Please spell out the differences in your mind between Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches. It seems to me that some churches are both, i.e., spreading the word (evangelical) and strictly according to the Bible (fundamentalist).

Why does this bother you to stick the label to something you never attend. OP never specified her requirements for the church she is looking for.

What's it to you? If you don't want to answer the question, fine. I'll look it up myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

It's evangelical (in the old, theological sense), but not fundamentalist. There are a very scant few fundamentalist churches in the DMV.

I literally took a class breaking down these definitions - among other things - in college. Fundamentalist != evangelical.

Please spell out the differences in your mind between Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches. It seems to me that some churches are both, i.e., spreading the word (evangelical) and strictly according to the Bible (fundamentalist).

Why does this bother you to stick the label to something you never attend. OP never specified her requirements for the church she is looking for.

What's it to you? If you don't want to answer the question, fine. I'll look it up myself.

Google says "Fundamentalism is a stricter, more separatist offshoot within the broader evangelical movement, distinguished by its militant defense of biblical inerrancy (literal interpretation) and its strong separation from "worldly" culture and liberal Christianity, whereas evangelicalism is a more diverse, inclusive tradition emphasizing personal conversion, evangelism, and scriptural authority but willing to engage with other faiths and culture, focusing more on spreading the Gospel than strict separation. The key difference lies in Fundamentalists' emphasis on militant separation and cultural rejection versus Evangelicals' broader, more collaborative approach to evangelism and cultural engagement."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I sure wish this statement made a modicum of sense.

What don't you understand? PP thinks that it's too bad that people have to believe in God, or pretend to believe, in order to have a separate set of friends. Maybe the kid could find a separate set of friends at the playground or somewhere where you didn't have to believe in God or pretend you believe in God, like Sunday school, which is affiliated with church.

Are you suggesting that there are Sunday schools that don't teach about God? Maybe in the unitarian church.

No PP said that it’s too bad you have to believe in God to go to youth group. Which is oxymoronic in the highest order, given that the purpose of church youth group, by definition, is to associate with others who worship and learn about gods love.

PP here and what I meant was that it's too bad that "youth groups" are currently associated with churches. There should be other youth groups that are not associated with churches so it was not assumed that belonging to a youth group meant believing in God.

Have you never heard of Girl Scouts or Bot Scouts?

Don't they push Christianity too?

Boy Scouts have traditionally been more associated with religion/Christianity than Girl Scouts. A lot of BS troops were integrated with a church, and some private religious schools practically require all students to participate in a troop after school (boys and girls).

After the BS finally broke away from their historical anti-gay stance (at least on paper) about 10 years ago, many religious supporters of BS troops backed away and switched to alternate, more religious friendly replacements for BS troops.

The GS have for decades been more LGBT friendly. While the GS Promise has the word "God", they allow girls to substitute any word, even a secular word like love. Looking back on my GS summer camp counselors 40+ years ago, it's clear many of them were lesbians. GS culture has been welcoming to LGBT for a long time. Most GS troops in my unit were not affiliated directly with churches (or more specifically, churches were not affiliated with GS). However, troop leaders and GS can steer their activities any way they wish, so I'm sure there is occasional overlap. My troop met at a church, but we never attended any church functions, and only 1 of the scouts was a member of that church.

Good idea. Separate young, impressionable girls away from their families and introduce them to "alternative" lifestyles.

Grooming at its finest.

Bless your heart.
"grooming at it's finest" Exactly what Young Life, or any religious org that has youth outreach/programs indoctrination at it's finest at all local churches. #1 place for your kid to be molested,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I sure wish this statement made a modicum of sense.

What don't you understand? PP thinks that it's too bad that people have to believe in God, or pretend to believe, in order to have a separate set of friends. Maybe the kid could find a separate set of friends at the playground or somewhere where you didn't have to believe in God or pretend you believe in God, like Sunday school, which is affiliated with church.

Are you suggesting that there are Sunday schools that don't teach about God? Maybe in the unitarian church.

No PP said that it’s too bad you have to believe in God to go to youth group. Which is oxymoronic in the highest order, given that the purpose of church youth group, by definition, is to associate with others who worship and learn about gods love.

PP here and what I meant was that it's too bad that "youth groups" are currently associated with churches. There should be other youth groups that are not associated with churches so it was not assumed that belonging to a youth group meant believing in God.

Have you never heard of Girl Scouts or Bot Scouts?

Don't they push Christianity too?

Boy Scouts have traditionally been more associated with religion/Christianity than Girl Scouts. A lot of BS troops were integrated with a church, and some private religious schools practically require all students to participate in a troop after school (boys and girls).

After the BS finally broke away from their historical anti-gay stance (at least on paper) about 10 years ago, many religious supporters of BS troops backed away and switched to alternate, more religious friendly replacements for BS troops.

The GS have for decades been more LGBT friendly. While the GS Promise has the word "God", they allow girls to substitute any word, even a secular word like love. Looking back on my GS summer camp counselors 40+ years ago, it's clear many of them were lesbians. GS culture has been welcoming to LGBT for a long time. Most GS troops in my unit were not affiliated directly with churches (or more specifically, churches were not affiliated with GS). However, troop leaders and GS can steer their activities any way they wish, so I'm sure there is occasional overlap. My troop met at a church, but we never attended any church functions, and only 1 of the scouts was a member of that church.

Good idea. Separate young, impressionable girls away from their families and introduce them to "alternative" lifestyles.

Grooming at its finest.

There is a reason Grinder does so well in the bible belt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I sure wish this statement made a modicum of sense.

What don't you understand? PP thinks that it's too bad that people have to believe in God, or pretend to believe, in order to have a separate set of friends. Maybe the kid could find a separate set of friends at the playground or somewhere where you didn't have to believe in God or pretend you believe in God, like Sunday school, which is affiliated with church.

Are you suggesting that there are Sunday schools that don't teach about God? Maybe in the unitarian church.

No PP said that it’s too bad you have to believe in God to go to youth group. Which is oxymoronic in the highest order, given that the purpose of church youth group, by definition, is to associate with others who worship and learn about gods love.

PP here and what I meant was that it's too bad that "youth groups" are currently associated with churches. There should be other youth groups that are not associated with churches so it was not assumed that belonging to a youth group meant believing in God.

Have you never heard of Girl Scouts or Bot Scouts?

Don't they push Christianity too?

Boy Scouts have traditionally been more associated with religion/Christianity than Girl Scouts. A lot of BS troops were integrated with a church, and some private religious schools practically require all students to participate in a troop after school (boys and girls).

After the BS finally broke away from their historical anti-gay stance (at least on paper) about 10 years ago, many religious supporters of BS troops backed away and switched to alternate, more religious friendly replacements for BS troops.

The GS have for decades been more LGBT friendly. While the GS Promise has the word "God", they allow girls to substitute any word, even a secular word like love. Looking back on my GS summer camp counselors 40+ years ago, it's clear many of them were lesbians. GS culture has been welcoming to LGBT for a long time. Most GS troops in my unit were not affiliated directly with churches (or more specifically, churches were not affiliated with GS). However, troop leaders and GS can steer their activities any way they wish, so I'm sure there is occasional overlap. My troop met at a church, but we never attended any church functions, and only 1 of the scouts was a member of that church.

Good idea. Separate young, impressionable girls away from their families and introduce them to "alternative" lifestyles.

Grooming at its finest.

There is a reason Grinder does so well in the bible belt.

Grinder doing well in the Bible Belt doesn't surprise me a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't you just look on a church's website, see what time services start, and show up? Seems pretty simple.

You can do that, of course. But I'd recommend asking nearby friends and neighbors you admire where they attend. Much easier to mesh at a church you know people at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't you just look on a church's website, see what time services start, and show up? Seems pretty simple.

I agree. Churches are getting bigger and bigger and it's much easier to just show up and try it out while remaining relatively anonymous wmong the crowd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't you just look on a church's website, see what time services start, and show up? Seems pretty simple.

I agree. Churches are getting bigger and bigger and it's much easier to just show up and try it out while remaining relatively anonymous wmong the crowd.

Remember to bring $$ with you to give at collection time.