When the lockdown due to Corona Virus started in March, many of us who are linked to church and faith communities may have found it difficult to readjust our routines. Part of this was the closure of all children’s and youth groups, in addition to Sunday schools and Sunday public worship. For my own family, being honest, at the time they didn’t really mourn the loss of any of this! Mainly because they are part of a very small group of children who attend our church. They find it difficult to identify their faith with the culture of the church we attend. As the only older children and sole teenager in a congregation, there is no one else they can bounce off, and despite our best efforts as a church, a revival of young people and children is not going to happen any time soon.
But what I think we had in common with many families is that it left a bit of a hole in our weekly routine and as we began to adjust to everyone working and studying from home I found myself contemplating what faith in God really means for my family. We joined in the circuit “webex” service, but again, it held very little interest for my children. I then found myself making the decision whether to “fight” a bit to get some kind of spiritual reflection or prayer into our daily schedule or not. I then kept wondering, “what kind of event or input would help them discover more about God?”.
And the results? Well so far, the spiritual reflection, before work starts, has had mixed results and we're still in the very early days of Family Time. But I think that trying to find something which will challenge, support, comfort, engage and help our children and young people grow in their faith is worth doing, worth putting the effort in and worth pursuing. As much as Jo Wicks is supporting our children in physical exercise, their spiritual growth is just as important. So I’m going to keep going, and encourage others to do the same. Because even when the churches do reopen, it doesn't really matter, unless our faith as a family makes a difference in our every day lives.
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