DD doesn't want to go to church any more

[jessicabenomi]

First-time poster here...

My three dd's have been coming to church with me every Sunday their entire lives (dh doesn't come).

It's increasingly being a struggle to get my eldest dd (aged 14) to come. She always says she has too much homework or she wants to meet her friends. Today after we got back she said that the youth Sunday school was so awful that she never wants to go again and she doesn't believe in God.

She's had one of these anti-church "episodes" (I know that's the wrong word I just can't think of another) every few years, but has always calmed down and come back to church before.

Am I being unreasonable to make her come with me? I don't want to force her if she truly doesn't believe, but my faith is so important to me and my church family have been so supportive at difficult times of my life. I just want her to have that support too.

Agnostic means "lacks knowledge"
Atheist means "lacks belief in a deity/deities"

All honest people should be agnostic.

Belief in a deity is an active thing...you either have it or you do not. If your answer to the question "Do you believe in God?" is anything other than "yes", you are an atheist.

You don't have to like it, but those are the defintions of the words. And "agnostic" does not have to mean "cannot know", but even if it does, it makes no odds.

I actually feel quite sad reading this; I have been in your daughters position. I have had the church warden come round and tell me a I wasn't being 'a part of the family' for wanting to sit and listen to music upstairs, instead of watching my stepdad's crap tv. I was forced to go to church. Now I couldn't care less if I see my mum at all, your daughter is being a normal teenager, it's not for her to help you keep up appearances.

Hi OP,

Sorry I haven't read all the replies as I got as far as the first mention of 'skyfairy' on the MN religion-bashing bingo board and thought I'd skip on.

A phrase that I have found helpful as a Christian parent is 'God has children not grandchildren'. Everyone has to find their own faith. For a lot of people this exploration begins around your daughter's age.

I was brought up in a Christian denomination and stopped attending, mainly through apathy and boredom around your daughter's age. I came back to church (different denomination) and a strong personal faith in my early 20s. Loads of my church friends did the same. Their childhood faith gave them strong foundations then they built their own adult faith on it when they were ready.

She'll be grand. I fully expect my kids to do the same when they're older too.