Sunday mornings have changed in many churches, quite a bit, from what they were when I was a child. In some ways this is a positive thing, but in others, not so much. When we make changes which result in making things more difficult for parents and grandparents, then we need to re-evaluate what we are doing.
For example, many churches are offering Sunday school for children on Sunday morning, but only for children through fourth grade. If the parents/grandparents want to go to a class and church service, what are they to do with their older children/grandchildren who do not have a class available for them to attend? This type of "plan" for Sundays leaves families with few options and does make it more difficult for them to participate on Sunday mornings - which is certainly not our goal. If this is how you run your Sunday mornings, you may want to re-evaluate what you are doing.
Most churches teach what we believe, but few teach why we are able to believe what we believe. For some children learning what we believe is enough for them to have a solid faith throughout their lives, but there are other children who run into questions at some point in their lives and without knowing the whys, they turn from their faith. All children benefit from knowing the whys - along with teaching what we believe, so we need to teach why we are able to believe. If you are not teaching the "whys" - you may want to re-evaluate what you are doing and ask your curriculum publisher to add the "whys" or develop your own teaching tools which do. (If you are looking for a curriculum to help you teach the "whys", check out Anchored at this link.)
In many families the only people who take the children to church are the grandparents, but most churches do not have classes designed to equip and encourage them to hand down confident faith. These grandparents need their church to care and to show their care by equipping and encouraging them. Keep in mind, most people become grandparents for the first time around the age of 47 - they clearly are not ready to join the senior saints class. These grandparents have twenty years before they retire and this is time they are able to impact their grandchildren in significant ways. If you are not currently helping them to do this, you may want to re-evaluate what you are doing and start a ministry which equips and encourages grandparents to make the most of these years.
Re-evaluating is a positive thing - doing so will often enable us to build a stronger ministry which better serves the children, parents, and grandparents. What might you need to re-evaluate?
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