Church: The Most Unlikely Place For Father's on Father's Day

I came across an interesting statistic in relation to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in a recent USA Today article.  The article was based on a recent survey conducted by Lifeway Research.  The survey had to do with the highest attendance days in churches in America. Ninety-three percent of pastors surveyed said that Easter was one of the top three high attendance days.  Eighty-four percent of pastors surveyed said that Christmas was one of the top three high attendance days. Fifty-nine percent of pastors said that Mother’s Day was one of the top three high attendance days in the life of the church.

Now what about Father’s Day? Only four percent of pastors surveyed said that Father’s Day was one of the top three attendance days in the life of the church each year.  Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research, said, "Clearly, mothers want to be present for the affirmation that is typically offered in most churches, but families also are present knowing their attendance will honor their mother. Many families make church attendance on Mother's Day nearly obligatory. The attendance difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day is telling. Either churches are less effective in affirming fathers, or families believe Christian fathers don't value their participation in worship services."

Ed Stetzer, President of Lifeway Research wrote, "It seems that on Mother's Day, moms say, 'Let's all go to church.' But on Father's Day, dads say, 'I'm going to go play golf,' " I think the research possibly says something pretty revealing about the difference in the spiritual health of mothers and fathers.  Mothers generally want to be in church on Sunday, with their children. Fathers on the other hand, for the most part, don’t want to be in church with their children on Father’s Day.

Therefore, I want to encourage you as Fathers and Grandfathers to stop that trend this Father’s Day.   Dads, Granddads, would your children or grandchildren pass out if you picked up the phone and said, “Hey, I’d love it if you and your family would come and go with me to church this Sunday?”  Children and Grandchildren, would your Dads and Granddads, pass out if you picked up the phone and said, “Hey, I’d love to have you join me at church this Father’s Day morning?”

 

Why don’t you call them and find out?  See you on Father’s Day!