Requiring church attendance should not apply to some children and not the others. If church is a family activity, it should be a family activity for everyone in the family.
How Not Requiring Church Attendance Can Lead to Bigger Issues
Here is more strategy for when Junior refuses to attend church. First, from early childhood, our kids should know that refusing church is never an option. It’s not like you are demanding a confession of faith—just church attendance. It isn’t legalism; it’s just family policy—like chores. Not requiring church attendance can help delegitimize the faith of your other family members.
Again, never yell, but, if it takes a lot to get Junior out of bed on Sunday, make it clear beforehand that at a designated time his or her bed will become a home for ice water if he or she is not out of it. Allowing your kids to go rogue on Sunday while still living in your home will give them a license to go rogue for the rest of their lives when they move out.
Picture provided by: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons