Is Church Good for Kids?

That is the conclusion of a recent study by a team of sociologists at Mississippi State University. The study claims that it is "quite clear" that religious attendance has various positive effects on children and that children who attend church of some description fare better emotionally, behaviorally, and cognitively. The study also found a direct correlation between positive childhood development and regular attendance as opposed to sporadic attendance.

The study's definition of religion is one significant drawback in that they only examined generalized data; denomination or affiliation was not included in the study parameters. Therefore, it cannot be concluded (from this study) if attendance at a Baptist church would have a significant difference over attendance at a church of another denominational stripe or even religious affiliation.

A significant finding from this study is that parental disagreement about faith does impact a child's development and his views on faith later in life.

But Bartkowski's study did determine that while church attendance is good for children, parental debate over religion is not. In fact, the study found that when parents argue about religion, it can "significantly undermine" a young child's development. However, when they are in agreement, it can be very beneficial. The study also said parent-child discussions about religion "often yield positive affects on child development."

Regularity in attendance can make a difference, too.

"In many of the developmental domains featured here, the children who are doing the best are in households where both parents attend worship services frequently," the authors wrote.

Though regular church attendance does indeed have a positive impact on children, a more significant conclusion of this study, one overlooked or drawn unwittingly, is that how faith is modeled at home has a much more significant impact on the child's development as well as how he views faith later in life. Parents who are unequally yoked serves, as Scripture testifies, to confuse childhood faith development.

In such home settings, any work done in church to disciple children is typically undone at home or is not being reinforced and does indeed confuse the child. The study does draw this point, that church should reinforce what is taught at home and not vice versa. This draws the more general point that faith is best taught at home and the church setting serves to best act as a conduit for working faith out, being edified and encouraged, and enjoying fellowship with other believers.

What is more significant is whether or not the child knows Jesus Christ and is being led to love Him, serve Him, and follow Him. So while church attendance is indeed good, parental discipleship is still best.