7 Ways to Get Your Whole Family Excited to Go to Church

Here are two simple questions about church: How do you feel about going to church on Sunday morning? Do you drag your feet or shuffle along like you are just going through the motions?

How you answer these questions and how you feel about church will influence how those in your family feel about it. If you treat attending church like a Sunday morning ritual or a check-the-box item, expect your family to do the same. You cannot expect your spouse or children to get excited about church when they don’t see that same excitement in you.

If you want your family to be excited about attending church, you should be excited first. Your enthusiasm (or lack thereof) is contagious and can set the tone for your entire household. Even if you are the only one, let them see you look forward to being in God's house. That might make all the difference.

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If someone in your family is not excited about attending church, find out why. We were attending a church, and our daughter was hesitant to go. She was enthusiastic in the car, but we noticed that when we got to the building, she did not want to be part of the children’s ministry. This church had a substantial children’s ministry; most attending children seemed to like it. However, her apprehension caused us to question why she did not want to be there. We discovered that she enjoyed going to church, but the kids in the children’s ministry were not very nice to her. There were cliques in the children’s ministry, even at this young age, and she felt isolated because she was not part of the clique. We even found out one child in the class was bullying her. The worst part is the kids in the clique, and the ones who bullied them were the pastor’s and leaders’ kids. In her case, the church was not the problem; the kids in the class were.

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When I was young, our great-grandmother was a pastor with a small storefront church on Church Ave in Brooklyn. This was the family type of church where most members were relatives. Whenever we went to this church, it was a miserable experience. Sometimes, we would have to gather around the altar and keep saying Jesus, Jesus, Jesus until our “breakthrough.” Aside from that, my great-grandmother was very legalistic, and for us, she was the meanest Christian woman we knew. We were not in the right church for three young siblings (me and my sisters).

As I grew up and had the privilege of having my family, I realized that the church you attend matters. Recognizing this, we have adopted a principle related to church for our family.

“It must work for all of us, or it can’t work for any of us.”

What I mean by that is that the church we choose should be a place where we all fit in and minister to each one of us. This means sometimes you must make tough choices regarding the church you attend. It could even mean leaving the “family” church because it no longer works for your family. We eventually left my great-grandmother’s church (thank you, Lord) because my mom found a different church, and it was absolutely the best decision she made.

When my family recognized we were in a church environment that was not beneficial for all of us, we started looking for another church. To complete the story with my daughter, we eventually found another church, and I remember the first Sunday we went there. She was so excited and could not wait to go. The church you choose matters, so choose wisely. That decision can either raise the level of excitement or extinguish it.

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How you feel about going to a place changes when you get involved. There are all kinds of serving opportunities in the church. Think about your family and consider if you all can get involved in serving. Doing this can create a sense of belonging or purpose. This can move your family from just sitting in the pews to making a difference. Consider your family and the gifts, talents, and abilities they bring to the table, and see if there is an opportunity to use them. If there is, you start moving from going to church to being the church. When you allow your family to experience that, their excitement can shoot through the roof. When this kicks in, then Sunday mornings become easier.

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If your church offers multiple service times, find the best service time for everyone. In our house, I am an early riser. Most mornings, I am up at 4 or 4:30 am. My wife and daughter are the opposite. They like to sleep late. My son is somewhere in between. I would attend the 9 am service every Sunday if it were up to me. However, for them, getting up to make the 9 am service is more of a challenge. Because they are up early every day during the week, they cherish the opportunities on the weekend when they can sleep in. There is less enthusiasm when we go to the 9 am service than when we go to the 11. There will be times when we must attend the 9 am service because of ministry obligations. However, the later service works better for them, and I am okay with that.

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In life, and especially in church, relationships matter. You cannot go through life alone because the connections matter. We enjoy attending church and seeing people with whom we have developed relationships. Some of my best friends in the world come from relationships I developed in church, which goes back many decades. Some of my longest friendships have endured; we haven’t attended the same church in many years. Some have moved to other parts of the country and the world.

If you go somewhere and your good friend will be there, does that change how you feel about going? Yes. The reason is you know you won’t be alone. Relationships in the church are the same way. There is excitement that comes from seeing people you like to be around. As you think about your children and everyone in your family, please encourage them to make friends. These relationships can make church far more interesting and cause them to look forward to going.

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The last reason has nothing to do with church at all. This one is personal. Do you live out your faith in your home, or do you put it on for Sunday morning and lay it on the shelf for the rest of the week? Your children know if your faith is genuine or not. When you have an authentic relationship with Jesus, the people in your house will respect that. I can’t say it will automatically make them serve the Jesus you serve, but they will respect the Jesus you serve. When there is enthusiasm and excitement about your walk with Jesus, that can be contagious. If you want your family to be excited about church on Sunday, then make sure you are excited about Jesus the other six days of the week.

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