Fathers – Part 3

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4 

Yesterday in this devotional we talked about the importance of Dads in the Spiritual lives of their families. If Dad doesn't go to church, chances are very slim that his children will become regular worshippers. If the kids see religion as "Mom's thing" they are more likely to become disenchanted. But if Dad leads by example, children are twenty-two times more likely to become lifelong churchgoers.

Curtis Burnam, a 20-year veteran of youth ministry has seen it time and again. "Kids who are taken to church by Mom but not Dad are harder to keep in church. They tend to drop out at higher rates when they reach adolescence. They are also harder to engage when they do come to youth group. This is true for girls as well as boys."

Why are these findings so alarming? Because men are dropping out of many of America's churches.

Consider this:
In 1952, the typical U.S. protestant worship service drew an adult crowd that was 47 percent male. Today that figure is 39 percent -- and falling.

On any given Sunday there are 13 million fewer men than women in U.S. churches.

Almost a quarter of married, churchgoing women attend services without their husbands each Sunday.

According to the Barna Research Group, men lag behind women in every area of Christian endeavor (except the senior pastorate).

At Celebration Community Church even though we have dozens of women who are faithful followers of Christ, we make it a point to be a man-friendly environment. As a result we have SO many committed men who lead in worship, fellowship, teaching and service.

This Sunday being Father’s Day is a great day to invite an unchurched father and his family to the Celebration. At all of our services we will have a drawing for our “Dad of the Day”.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle