What Influences Children’s Faith Formation Most?
Their church?
Friends?
School?
Pop culture?
Media resources?
None of those.
If children are going to become Christian, most do it by age 12—mostly because of a mother’s influence.
According to Barna Group:
- Moms are their children’s foremost partners in faith formation- with prayer (63%) and conversations about God (70%), the Bible (71%) or other faith questions (72%).
- Mothers are also the ones encouraging church attendance (79%) or teaching kids about the Bible (66%), God’s forgiveness (66%) and religious traditions (72%).
- Most practicing Christians say their faith was passed down to them. Most often (68%) from their mothers.
Moms are a HUGE influence on children’s faith formation.
This is not to say dad’s can’t be. They’re just not doing the stuff. Their potential influence is monumental. They’re just not using it.
Moms have taken the lead.
It’s Not Just About Church and Devotions
Barna took their study further. They found nine key indicators of faith-forming households. They were able to pinpoint what family habits contributed most to successfully raising kids in the Christian faith.
It’s all about bonding.
Would you believe regular family meals are a huge indicator of whether your child is going to pick up your faith?
How about play? When we have fun with our kids we are doing kindgom work.
And work? When we do chores alongside each other, we are doing kingdom work.
What about family meals? When we share about our days over noodles and cheese, we’re doing kingdom work.
Two Types of Faith-Forming Moms
Among these faith-forming moms are two groups:
- Struggling moms who feel they have no idea what they’re doing
- Confident moms who feel they are killin’ it
But how do either of them really know? Where are the objective markers for this?
Furthermore, (and statistically) parents rank themselves 30-55% better than their peers rank them!
Want to see if you’re really helping your children’s faith formation?
Look no further than our Faith-forming Family Habit Tracker—with 9 key indicators present and measurable in faith-forming families.
If you’re like me, you’re naturally skilled in some areas and lacking in others. But now you can know where to hone in and where to breathe easy.
Where had I fallen flat? My family could use a lot more working together. 20 times a month is the target! But I never would’ve known without some way to track it.
Another area we’d fallen flat? Not doing these things as a whole family. We’ve been much more divide-and-conquer. Now we’re more bond-and-prevail.
And the best news? I bet these indicators line up with your ideal vision of family.
Subscribe below to download—free today!
Using the Faith-forming Habit Tracker
Download and post our monthly tracker on your fridge, get out the markers, and color in the spaces as you go. See objectively how you’re doing.
Side note: Your kids won’t let anything slide 😉
If you have these filled in by the end of the month, congratulations—you’re in the top 25% of spiritually vibrant families, according to Barna Group!
So, read them a Bible story at bedtime. Talk about it and pray together after. This is important work.
But don’t forget to get out and rake those leaves together. And jump in them after! You are raising your children in the faith. This is the most important work.
Your influence over your children’s faith formation is HUGE, Mama. And that’s great news.
P.s. One of the 9 key indicators is weekly family meetings. Not sure what those could or should look like? Head over to Christian Family Meetings for Fruitful Living and download our freebie!