Churches Without Fathers: We have “produced our own single-parent family parish model in the woman priest.”
from Not Another Episcopal Church Blog: (Hat Tip: Barbara Gauthier)
Robbie Low is vicar of St. Peter’s, Bushey Heath, a parish in the Church of England (*see note below – Ed) and his recent commentary on the fatherless church (requires subscription to “Touchstone”) cites research done in Switzerland that showed,
“In short, if a father does not go to church, no matter how faithful his wife’s devotions, only one child in 50 will become a regular worshipper. If a father does go regularly, regardless of the practice of the mother, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will become churchgoers (regular and irregular). If a father goes but irregularly to church, regardless of his wife’s devotion, between a half and two-thirds of their offspring will find themselves coming to church regularly or occasionally.”
Interestingly, the presence of faithful Christian fathers, worshipping regularly, has a greater effect on the developing child than the worship habits of the mother. Why this happens is a matter of speculation of course,
“Curiously, both adult women as well as men will conclude subconsciously that Dad’s absence indicates that going to church is not really a ‘grown-up’ activity.”
and,
“When children see that church is a ‘women and children’ thing, they will respond accordingly—by not going to church, or going much less.”
Ed: The article from Touchstone was originally published in New Directions in 2002, but may be read here.
*Fr Robbie Low spent 25 years of parish ministry in the Church of England. In 2004, he and his wife, Sara, were received into the Catholic Church. Fr Robbie was ordained into the Catholic priesthood for the diocese of Plymouth in October 2012.
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