What if I told you that
- More than likely you could increase the number of children attending your church substantially?
- You might very well be able to reach many more children for Christ than ever before this next fall?
- You could change many children’s lives for the better?
You’re probably wondering how this could be possible. I mean, you work very hard already. You may be thinking there is no way. Well, there is a way, but first let me start with a story in the Bible.
Luke 5:1–7: Cast your nets again
As you know, in the story in Luke 5:1–7, the fishermen had been fishing all night and were not successful in catching fish. Jesus told them to go back out in their boat and cast their nets again.
Thankfully, the fishermen listened to Jesus and did what he proposed. When they listened and acted on what Jesus said, they filled their nets so full the nets began to break.
There are children in every community who are feeling the effects of divorce, cohabiting situations, and other dysfunctional family situations. Church and children’s leaders might not realize these children are there because they are only looking in one place—inside their church walls.
These kids are not in your church
You are not going to find the majority of children in these situations in the church. We’ve got to look outside the walls of our church. We must “put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4).
In the US, the percentage of children living in single-parent homes is 35%. Are 1 in 3 children in your classes from single-parent homes?
In some states, especially the southern states, the percentage goes as high as 45%. That means almost 1 out 2 children in your church groups should be from a single-parent home.
What hope do all these children have if they aren’t exposed to Christian principles and to the love of the Lord?
Children are hardwired at birth to believe in a loving God. When parents divorce, though, unless one parent continues to take the children to church, they are helpless to attend on their own.
After divorce, many families stop attending their local church. This means another transition for the children. Not only do they lose their original family, but they also lose their church family.
Disruption of church
In the report “Does the Shape of Family Shape Faith,” we read, “Children of divorce experience a disruption of the ‘domestic church’ of their home. … With their parents, children pray at meals or bedtime, read stories, and ask questions about the nature of God and the meaning of life. In homes, they celebrate religious holidays and sacraments and participate in family traditions. When divorce affects families, these practices can be more difficult to maintain.”
We must cast our nets deeper.
- Churches need to reach out to the children in single-parent homes.
- Jesus knows there are children of divorce in every community.
- Jesus knows these children are hurting and desperate for the kind, loving people of God to find them.
- He also knows that if we don’t reach out to them and do it quickly, the world will reach them.
Want to bring more children to your church? Reach out to the children of divorce and the children in single-parent homes. You can find them in every community. Don’t rely on the church down the street to reach these children; they may be waiting for you to do it.
This article is updated and adapted from an article originally published on the Kids & Divorce blog on August 21, 2014.
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