COMMUNITY OF SPICE a newsletter for clergy spouses by clergy spouses

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What is it like for your children?
 
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PK questionnaire
Below are the questions we asked PK's (Preacher's Kids) from around the world.  Most of the responses were not from subscribers.
  1. How old are you?
  2. What is the denomination in which you grew up?
  3. Do you still count yourself as a part of that denomination?
  4. Which parent is ordained and what was your age when s/he was ordained?
  5. How often did you attend church as a child?
  6. If you are married, did you marry someone involved in the church?
  7. Was that a consideration when you looked for a spouse?
  8. Do you attend church, now?
  9. How often?
  10. If you don't attend now, do you believe that having children will change that (or did having children change your involvement in the church)? 
  11. If you're not active in church now, what do you see as some of the reasons?
    12.  
    In regards to church attendance:
  12. What will you do (or do you do) differently with your children than your parents did with you?
  13. What did your parents do well?
  14. What do you wish your parents had done differently?
  15. What did parishioners, parishes, dioceses do well?
  16. What do you wish parishioners, parishes, dioceses had done differently?

40 year old, female, Episcopal Church

1-3.  40 years old.  Episcopal Church  Yes.  Married in the Episcopal Church by my Dad :)!!  My three children were baptized by their Grandpa.

4.  Dad was ordained the year before I was born.

5.  We attended church unless we were sick.  When we were on vacation, we attended the church in that town.

6-11.  I married a Roman Catholic who had not been active in his church for years, but began attending the Episcopal church when we started dating.  It was mandatory for my serious boyfriends to believe in God.  It was not mandatory they be Episcopalian but it made my life much easier that my husband was willing to go to the Episcopal Church.  We currently go EVERY week unless sick, and when traveling we attend the church in the town.  My kids sing in church choir and acolyte, attend youth group and Christian ed.  They love going to church.

12-14.  Things my parents did well with us include having lots of family focused gatherings throughout the year at the church.  Taking us to Cursillo closings-that was very fun.  Pot-lucks several times a year.  Good old fashioned VBS (without a theme and no t-shirts,  just crafts and Kool-Aid, games and snacks).   They encouraged me to go to the Happening weekend and I really enjoyed that.  I also worked several weekends and as an adult attended a Cursillo weekend.  Belief in the resurrection-that is the ONLY thing that got me through my Dad's illness and death-knowing we WILL be together again!

15-16.  Things that could have been better:  youth group was practically nonexistent at our church, those were the days before hired youth directors within the church and my Dad tried his best, but it wasn't his strength, nor did he really have the time to really make it good.   It would have been nice to have a youth group.  I never attended church camp; that would have been nice also.  I did not like being made to fill in for kids who didn't show up when scheduled to acolyte!  I didn't like that my mom couldn't really open up to any of the women in the church-maybe that was pressure she put on herself-don't know.

1505 Deerfield Drive
Oshkosh, WI 54904
Karen D. Powers
Publisher and Senior Editor

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