There was a time when church bells rang throughout the town, signaling for everyone to drop what they were doing to worship the Lord. Now attending church on a Sunday morning is foreign to some.
It’s no secret that church attendance has been dwindling. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research reports that only 20.4 percent of the American population attends church each Sunday.
Furthermore, sociologists of religion have found a correlation between church growth and youth involvement that is consistent across different types of churches – liberal, moderate and conservative. In all these churches, the greater the youth involvement, the greater the church’s growth.
How will youth comprehend the importance of attending church if their parents don’t implement it?
Bishop Leonard Scott, pastor of Rock Community Church and author of Soaring with Eagles and Be Lifted Up, remembers growing up in a time when not going to church wasn’t an option.
“When I was young everyone went to church. Church was a part of your life. It didn’t have to do with whether or not you were saved. Everyone wasn’t going for the right reason, but they were going,” said Scott.
Now Scott says that for Christians time on Earth is winding down and our adversary, Satan, recognizes this and is taking advantage. It comes down to spiritual warfare. People have to fight for their beliefs, otherwise they’ll be disoriented and morals will go down the drain.
He emphasized that kids need guidance from their parents and going to Sunday school should be taught. It’s crucial because children are impressionable forming their worldview, thoughts and morals earlier.
Scott believes Sunday school is a critical learning tool for youth, because teachers break down the Bible for children to understand, learn and implement teachings in their daily lives.
“Kids need direction from their parents in order to reach spiritual maturity. After your child has grown up, you can’t raise them anymore,” he says. “The Lord doesn’t want you to be your child’s friend, but their parent.”
Marcus Schrader, vice president of student affairs and professor at Crossroads Bible College, stresses that the idea that non-parenting, or letting children raise themselves, is not acceptable.
“If you don’t instill (values) in them as their parent, where will they get it from? Music? Fellow students? TV? Society is not the best place for them to get their beliefs. The most important thing I can do as a father is instill the Christian worldview into my children. I don’t see anything more important than that,” Schrader said.
When Scott first started in ministry, he noticed several people didn’t know proper church etiquette, because they had never experienced church. This inspired him to write Soaring with Eagles. The book teaches basic Christianity tools such as prayer, fasting and tithing.
As your child gets older, Scott says they can learn how to manipulate you in order to not attend church if it wasn’t already instilled. “God gave us the Bible as an instruction manual to use. People like to say the Bible was for back then, but it’s for right now too.”
According to Jane Snyder, a kindergarten teacher at Southeastern Church of Christ Preschool, children develop their spiritual morals by the age of 8. She references the Scripture found in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
“We have to get them early because it will shape them as adults. My job gives me the opportunity to be a witness. It’s wonderful to see God working in these children. Teaching is not a job. This is my service,” said Snyder.
Schrader cringes at the thought of parents not fulfilling their roles as spiritual leaders. As a father of four children he understands it can get difficult, but complexity does not trump importance.
“It’s disheartening to see proclaimed Christian parents not fulfilling their roles. Christian parents won’t even admit to it, although it’s true. That’s why we have so many issues with our young people,” Schrader said. “My prayer would be that parents step up to the plate by fulfilling the Bible role of training and raising their family.”
Scott is hopeful that Blacks can regain the desire to want to attend church, and instill the importance of church in their children again by being accountable.
“We have to go back to being our brother’s keeper and depending on Christ. We have changed so much over the years as Black people. One thing that made the Black culture come together was oppression from the outside,” Scott said. “Seems like the less oppression there is we think we don’t need each other. When in reality we will always need each other to continue on this journey.”
