Mission Possible: 5 Keys to Raising Faithful Kids

Last updated on: June 6, 2015 at 10:26 am by Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

Mission Possible: 5 Keys to Raising Faithful Kids 2015-06-06T10:26:19-05:00 Rachael Popcak and Dr. Gregory Popcak

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image via Shutterstock. Used with permission.

What are your chances of raising faithful kids? Answer these 5 questions!

For the Catholic parent, there is no more important task than communicating our faith to our children. That doesn’t just mean teaching our kids Catholic prayers and rituals. It means teaching them how to have a meaningful and personal relationship with God. How to think and act morally. How to love rightly and intimately. How to celebrate and live life as the gift that it is meant to be. And, ultimately, how to be saints — living witnesses to a life of grace.

As critical as this mission is, it’s understandable that many parents feel overwhelmed about the undertaking. Fortunately recent studies examining how faith is transmitted through family life is taking some of the mystery out of the process. Answer the following questions to see how effectively you are sharing the faith in your home.

1. Do your children experience your faith as the source of your warm, family relationships?
The Christian life is a call to deeper relationship with God and others. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that children are much more likely to “own” their faith when they experience it as the source of the warmth of their family relationships. When children of faithful parents experience no difference in the quality of the relationships in their homes relative to the quality of the relationships in their non-Catholic or non-believing friends’ homes, they come to see faith as either a hobby they can take or leave or, worse, as a fraud. This is especially true when faith is experienced as a collection of restrictions and rules instead of the source of the family’s sense of joy and togetherness. To this end, children raised by faithful parents who adopt an authoritative parenting style marked by clear expectations and loving-guidance approaches to discipline are much more likely to raise faithful kids than are parents who adopt authoritarian (heavy-handed) or permissive (hands-off) parenting styles.

2. Is your children’s father taking the lead in faith formation practices and discussions?
Dad’s active involvement is critical for effective faith transmission. For instance, one study showed that when fathers faithfully went to church despite being married to an unchurched woman, 44 percent of their children became regular churchgoers as adults, but when mothers faithfully went to church despite being married to an unchurched man, only 2 percent of their children grew up to be faithful church attendees. Dads must take the lead in the spiritual formation of their children if parents want the faith to stick.

3. Are you actively helping your children develop a personally meaningful prayer life?
One recent study by CARA found that only about a quarter of Catholic families pray together. That’s bad news because faith isn’t just caught. It also needs to be taught. It isn’t enough for children to watch their parents pray or to be passive participants in activities (like Mass) that their parents make them attend. Parents need to teach their children how to have a personal prayer life that children experience as relevant and emotionally engaging. This means more than teaching children to “say” their prayers. It means discipling children into an authentic relationship with God. Parents can do this through regular family prayer, having regular conversations about answered prayers and the role God plays in their lives as a family, and by coaching their children how to pray on their own in meaningful ways. – CONTINUE READING

Previous Post

June 3, 2015

"Good Morning NY Times. Did You Have A Nice Coma?" The "Paper of Record" FINALLY Wakes Up to the Myth of Overpopulation

Next Post

June 9, 2015 Green With Envy: 3 Steps to Rediscovering Your Worth in Christ

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Anxiety atheism Attachment Church Conflict Resolution Counseling Depression faith Family forgiveness Gender Happiness Health Humor Marriage Mental Health Mental Illness Mindfulness morality More2Life Radio Parenting Personal Wellness Personality Disorder Popcak Psychology News reconciliation Relationship religion self-help Sexuality Spirituality stress theology of the body Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I was rejected by God as king for offering an unauthorized sacrifice instead of waiting. Who am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

David Solomon Rehoboam Saul