Child having a different faith or denomination than both parents
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Anonymous
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DD has begun to ask about being baptized and exploring religion overall.
I would love for her to find a faith that meets her spiritual desires/needs. Although it seems complex in some areas - once she is baptized, we would accompany her to devices, etc.. at a church. But overall, to be honest, I don’t know much about the differences in faiths - Christian faiths. Episcopalian vs. Lutheran or Methodist, etc is there any website or book that breaks things down at a young preteen level? Did anyone grow up exploring a different faith than their parents? |
Anonymous
| How old is your DD? I was raised Catholic and practiced until I left for college and started questioning everything. My parents don't particularly care, although my mom did get upset that we didn't baptize our DD. She got over it rather quickly though, but it was a challenging few months. |
Anonymous
| Op here. She is 9 years old. |
Anonymous
| Few major differences in mainstream Protestantism as practiced by most Americans. Is she in some sort of religious formation program? You could use their materials to see how your personal beliefs might differ. |
Anonymous
| Do you know any families who go to church or synagogue? Maybe set up a time to chat and then, if interested, she could attend a service. |
Anonymous
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Good for her for being able to articulate this to you at her age. Can you tell what might be spurring her interest? If it's a friend or older mentor, could she explore attending the same church as that person and you could see if it's a good place for her to be baptized? Overall, I think with any religious community, it's the community that is important, so finding her a friendly place to plug in where there's a good youth group program and solid teaching/mentoring from adults you feel you can trust is critical. Among various Protestant denominations, there are lots of warm, accepting churches in this area. We are Episcopalian and have a great youth program (All Saints), but there are lots of churches that fit the bill including local Methodist and Presbyterian churches. If you feel comfortable saying the general area where you live, perhaps others can recommend specific churches to explore.
In terms of other resources, here is a high-level guide to some key denominational differences that might be more helpful for you. A lot of these distinctions will be lost on a 9yo (which is probably as it should be!) https://www.learnreligions.com/comparing-christian-denominations-beliefs-part-1-700537 But for kids, here is some age-appropriate reading that focuses more on fundamentals shared across Christian denominations: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400316022/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/What-Bible-About-Handbook-Kids/dp/1496416112 |
Anonymous
| If she's only 9, she has no idea what any of this is. She's heard friends discussing and that's where this is coming from. There's some great kids books on the various religions, I'd start there. |
Anonymous
| The Unitarian Universalists church has a children’s program that does a nice job of studying/experiencing different religions. The kids learn about & visit services of all faiths. I don’t think it’s until middle & high school though. |
Anonymous
| At age 9 I would not allow any major religious shifts. |
Anonymous
| Father was Jewish and mother Catholic. Neither was religious. I became Catholic on my own. |
Anonymous
The world is different now. Children at age 3 can choose gender. |
Anonymous
why? It's not as though she had a choice to practice the religion of her parents anyway, so it's not like she's shifting away from "her" religion... |
Anonymous
Because I said so. 
Because I picked the religion I believe in for her. She's NINE. She could change her favorite color on a daily basis. It's not like if she waits until she's in college to pursue the religion she believes in she'll have missed something. |
Anonymous
This. She can do it as an adult. Its usually peer pressure or from another adult. |
Anonymous
Your mother was Catholic. This is different than the question. |