Hope Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids, IA

How to Get Your Family to Worship Services

Augsburg Publishing has just put out a new book entitled, �The Christian Handbook�. This book talks about all the different things that a church going Christian needs to know, not merely theology, doctrine and the like, but really important, everyday things like the title of this article suggests. For the next couple of months I�m going to give you a taste of what�s in the book and hopefully you�ll buy one and maybe in the Fall we can use it as the basis for our Adult Forum Class!

Rounding up family members and getting them from home to pew can be one of the most difficult things you ever do. Here are some of the common problems families have to deal with.

1) Children � I�ve heard many parents say, �It�s just too hard to get the kids ready in time for church on Sunday. We�ll wait until our children get older, when they�re better behaved, have a longer attention span, and when they�re better able to understand what�s going on. Then we�ll bring them to church.� While I don�t doubt the sincerity of this statement in any way, shape or form, real life doesn�t work that way. Anyone who�s had to deal with a tired, cranky adolescent, who spends more time in front of a mirror than an anorexic super model, knows it doesn�t work that way! It�s hard, infuriating, thankless, never ending work, that takes so much physical and emotional energy, that by the time you finally get to church your either ready to collapse or start breaking a large number of the 10 Commandments. (After all, God will forgive you if you ask, right? When you reach this point simply repeat this phrase, �I�ll go to jail if I kill them, I�ll go to jail if I kill them�") But waiting until Kindergarten, or what is more popular today, until they reach Confirmation age, simply puts off the inevitable, and it makes it less likely the kids will actually absorb what they need to know about God. Doubt that last sentence is true? Then wait until a child is 5 or 12 years old, until they�re better behaved, have a longer attention span and are better able to understand what�s going on before you begin teaching them to read and see how well that works out. As hard as it is the only answer is to �bring�em early and bring�em often�! You can also try Saturday at 6:00 p.m.!!!

2) The Weather � �We were planning on coming, but the weather was just too bad!� Believe me I understand this reason for not coming. If I wasn�t the pastor and I didn�t live just a block and a half away there would be times I wouldn�t make it to church either! And of course, people should never come if the weather makes traveling dangerous. But I�ve also noticed that sometimes we can take this a little too far. We say that we don�t come to worship because it was snowing, or raining, or too hot, or too cold, or it was so nice out that we didn�t want to spend it indoors! When you sift through all of this, I figure there are about two weekends a year when the temperature is about 40 degrees, (not too hot, or too cold, or too nice), and it�s not raining or snowing that will allow folks to worship. Seriously here�s a good rule of thumb to follow. Think of something you like to do; bowling, fishing, shopping, going to the movies, and ask yourself this question, �Would I let the weather keep me from doing those things�? If the answer is yes, don�t come to worship. If the answer is no�

3) It�s Too Boring � I�ll let you in on a little secret, �I get bored sometimes too�! There have been times when I�ve had to stifle a yawn while I�ve been preaching one of my own sermons! But to be honest, I don�t know how much I can do to change the fact that sometimes worship can be boring. I promise I�ll work as hard as I can not to be boring, but I have to be realistic. After all, the average budget for a half hour situation comedy on T.V. is $500,000. With that they hire writers, directors, producers, set designers, professional actors, etc. They only produce on the average 25 shows a year, compared to 52 a year, (not counting repeats Sunday, and Wednesdays, and special attractions Thanksgiving, Christmas, Lent, etc), here at Hope. And yet with all those resources the average sit-com lasts about two years, because people get bored with it. I know there are congregations that put on a pretty good show, but after a while the novelty will wear off and people simply go to another place with a different show, and after awhile the novelty wears off and� The truth is, no amount of money, creativity, hard work, or anything else will ever be enough to keep us entertained in this world that is constantly coming up with newer and flashier ways of attracting our attention. What it really comes down to is this, the purpose of worship is �worshipping God� not being entertained! God has created us, provided for us, loves us, forgives us, and promises us eternal life. We come to worship to hear that simple message over and over, and to say thank you to God. I know, sometimes it�s sincerely terribly hard to get the kids ready, get out in bad weather, and even stay awake once we get here. But we were all taught when we were little that saying thank you isn�t something we do only when it�s easy. Saying thank you is the right thing to do, especially when it�s hard. I know, I know, this sounds terribly old fashioned doesn�t it? But then, so does everything that really matters. Some things don�t change.

In Christ�s Name,
Pastor Dan