How popular are secular households?

[Jenny A]

I'm sure there are many people who were raised in a more religious house than I was. But ours was quite religious. We said grace at every dinner and went to church every Sunday, Christmas Eve, Christmas morning and sometimes (especially during Lent) on Wednesday evenings. Mom sang in the choir and Dad occasionally preached (he went to seminary for a year). As long as I was still tucked in at night, there were bedtime prayers. The church sewing group often met in our living room. For many years my parents belonged to church prayer group that met from about 5pm until the wee hours once a month and we kids all came, though we weren't much involved in the prayer part, that was for grown-ups. What we got was a slumber party. I went to Bible school every summer and to Bible camp five summers running. As Sunday school was between services at the church, I attended that too. I belonged to the church's youth group and went on many outings with them and had sleepovers in the church. I went to conformations classes for two years in my teens.

If you are getting the picture that the church was a large part of my parents' social life, you are getting it right. Of necessity it was a large part of mine too. Who was in my youth group and Sunday school classes was as important to my social life as who was in my school classes.

What my parents did not do, is spend a lot of time taking about god with us, or praying with us in a more than formalistic way. They left that to the church. Or at least they did until after I explained that I was not a believer. Then there was much talk at home. I did my brother a disservice there.