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Barb Wallace, Director of Religious Education, The First Unitarian Church of Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA "Do I have to go to church this morning? It's boring!" As parents, we've all heard this from our children as we're trying to rush them out the door. When my kids were little, my basic response was, "This is what we do as a family on Sunday morning. What do you want to do this afternoon? Most of the time this worked, but some times we have to strategize further. Have you considered how important regular attendance is? If they are in church school most weeks, your children will get to know the other children in their group, get the flow of the curriculum, rituals and songs and get to know the adults in your community. As their comfort level with the building and the people grows, everyone (not just children) gets more involved and takes more interest in what's happening and is more prepared to come with less hassle planning some interesting activity for after church? Many of our adults make it routine to go out for lunch with their friends after the service. Maybe a family outing that just happens to occur while you're already out and about after church might make coming to church easier. Children come together for one hour on Sunday morning from as far away as Delhi, Brantford, Burlington, and Hagersville. Many do not know other Unitarian children in their school or on their streets. We are not a neighborhood church. Some organization on your part (such as taking your children and their church friends on a picnic lunch, having them over for a Saturday night sleepover, etc.) may begin a friendship with another child in his/her class. A child who wants to visit with his/her friend at church is more willing to come. Get involved in church school (if you're not already), church school is one of the few places left where your children can have you as a leader in their group. Many children love to help their parents get organized or be leaders in the activities planned. Discuss with your child why s/he doesn't want to come? Once you determine the largest factor in making church school a dreaded place, we can try to work on that together. Perhaps a child doesn't like to do crafts —maybe we could find something else s/he could do while crafts are being done. Maybe your child finds the space too confining —perhaps s/he could come out and be with me for some of the time as I do various jobs or play in the nursery for a few minutes. Maybe there's a particular child your child has difficulty with—we can make sure those children don't sit near each other. If you are able to figure out exactly what your child's concern is, let's work together to find a solution. Let the Children's Religious Education Committee know if you have suggestions to make our program better for your children and others. See you in church. |
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Information:
info@uua.org