ArticleBlog | Parenting for faith in the church of the future
Parenting for faith in the church of the future
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 12.12.20
I have always felt that it is tough to be brought up in a vicarage, because so many people seem to think that vicars’ kids must be well balanced and privileged, and therefore ought to be perfect. In reality, they are normal children who are living their lives on display, as if they were goldfish in a bowl. So it became of special interest to me, after I became a vicar, that my children were OK about their lot in life. Like all parents, I wanted the best for my children.
As a parent, I’ve always wanted my boys (we have three) to grow up happy, well-educated and able to get on with others, but there is another thing I’ve desired: that they would find their own faith in God. This has been a deep hope that I have not always articulated, in case it sounds as though I wanted to brainwash my children with my own worldviews, but actually it is part of my desire that they would find the treasure I have discovered in having a personal faith. If I’m honest, I was also keen that my boys would be able to cope with church, despite all the problems attached to corporate religious movements. It was because of this that I researched a PhD in the 1990s, on how faith discovered in childhood would be a resource across an adult’s life.
When I became a grandparent in 2019, I found myself further stimul
