Youth in Exodus

Next time the church body meets, how much of your family will be absent? The majority of Christian parents of teens go to church without them, according to statistics; Geraldine Witcher writes to share her concern that the church is showing far too much resignation or even fatalism in respect of adolescents leaving. How much should parent insist on Church attendance, when children would rather not? Does it matter whether your theology teaches that children are "in" until they reject the Gospel, or "out" until they accept it? Patterns of Church involvement need to be more demanding rather than child-friendly. Adolescents need hospitable "godparents" in their church community.