Should my teenager still attend our weekly service when she no longer wants to participate?
Parenting"You say faith has to mean something. Then you say I have to come anyway." My fourteen-year-old was sitting on the stairs while the rest of us put our shoes on.
We attend a weekly religious service. She used to enjoy the children's group, but now says she goes mainly to stop us asking questions. I told her she could think what she liked, but that attending was a family routine. She said that sounded like permission to disagree as long as nobody could see it.
For me the morning also means seeing people who helped us when my husband was out of work. It isn't only a statement of belief. I want her to know that community. She likes several people there and has offered to help at the next food collection, but she doesn't want the weekly service.
We haven't made a rule for the long term. How would you distinguish family participation from a profession of belief, and what kind of compromise would respect the difference rather than asking her to pretend?