Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 21:36     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 21:22     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 21:18     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Interesting. All the ones I happen to know are up with the sun or earlier every day.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 18:34     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 17:46     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 17:43     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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.
Anonymous
Post 01/18/2026 15:34     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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
Post 01/18/2026 09:00     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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
Post 01/18/2026 08:57     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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
Post 01/17/2026 08:48     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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
Post 01/17/2026 08:44     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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
Post 01/17/2026 08:14     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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
Post 01/16/2026 13:52     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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
Post 01/16/2026 13:47     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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
Post 01/16/2026 11:08     Subject: How to start going to church as a family
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