ScoutTN Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We are just beginning to have some conflicts in this area. Wondering what others do and how you decide? Are you unusual in your church in how you handle this? Do you treat tournaments or recitals differently from regular practices or games? :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We don't generally sign up with leagues that do regular practices or games on Sundays. We do differentiate for specific short-term events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 No, and it means we've had to pass by some opportunities for teams we would have done otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We don't do Sundays right now. If a child got to a skill level where an important game/meet was happening on a Sunday, I would not be flatly opposed to it. As it is now, the only child who seems to have that type of physical talent is ds9. At 9 years old, nothing is a big enough deal to miss church. If he continues to be a talented swimmer, we may let him compete on an occasional Sunday. Right now he has meets about once a month. We sign him up to swim on Saturdays only. If he gets to JO level, we'll see about it then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 I try to avoid it, but we do some 3 day horse shows over a Fri, Sat, Sun. We have been very lucky in soccer with only the rare afternoon game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74Heaven Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Wow, you families are a breath of fresh air. Our policy is Sunday mornings we go to worship the Lord together as a family. That's what we do. We do not do sports or practices or tournaments during church time. However, after church morning time, we would attend. I can see where we might make a rare exception to this policy, but so far (17years :), we have not. In Christ Alone! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We do, because the only time this soccer league plays games is on Sundays. But it's after church, so we still are able to attend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 This is one of the reasons why we left gymnastics. Dd was at the point where she would have started to go to meets - many which included Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We haven't had it be a big issue yet, but we have had some Scout things on Sunday afternoons. In addition to church we are part of a small group that meets the 1st and 3rd Sundays in the afternoon. It's very important to us. Our general policy is we do not sign up for things that will be on Sundays and conflict with our morning worship or the afternoon small group. We may make exceptions for certain one time things, but it would be on a case by case basis. Ds does do a swim practice on Sunday evenings from 5-6 but it's at a time that doesn't conflict with worship or church. And because of the timing and location it's not a stress for our family. (It's actually restful for me as I get to sit by the pool and read.) We have missed a lot of the Scout activities that are on Sundays and from the beginning have said we are not available on Sundays (our den honors that but the pack is very large and other people schedule pack wide events for Sundays). Our church is small and for the most part people don't miss for sports. We have had a couple of families over the years that have moved on to bigger churches where they have multiple services so it can better fit with their sports schedule. We have good friends for whom this was an issue last spring. Their son was playing soccer and made it to all-stars. He was not a kid who had played very many years (maybe 1 or 2) and they go to the point where if they kept winning they would have a game on Sunday. They struggled with it but in the end decided to let him play. Their decision was based on the fact that it was not a recurring commitment and that as the goalie he was really essential to the team. They felt like they would be letting down a lot of kids and it would be unfair if he didn't play. If they had known well in advance that it would be a Sunday they might have said he couldn't but as it was there was no time to get another goalie. What I appreciated about the way they made the decision was that they were prayerful, they asked for advice/input, and ultimately they did it in a way as not to be legalistic but to try and honor the Sabbath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We ran into this problem last year when DS was in a soccer tourney that was both Saturday and Sunday. We didn't realize it would be both days. DS did not play Sunday because the game was during church time. Honestly, it was a hard decision to make, but we decided that we have to have our priorities be our priorities. Incidentally, DS is going to be in a tourney in a couple weekends and the coach was very quick to let us know it would only be on Saturday. And this was a different coach than he had last year. I guess word gets around. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 (edited) Our community soccer league has all games on Sundays, except for occasional tournaments for the older kids. We've always done the games. Our earliest games started at 1:15, so we would leave church at 12. Now, our games are all at 3:45, which takes away all conflict. So technically, yes, we do games on Sundays, but they have never conflicted with our church schedule. Nothing around here happens on Sunday mornings. :) Edited October 16, 2011 by PeacefulChaos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquinas Academy Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 My kids don't do organised sports, their big activity is music. We have missed musical activities for church and family time on Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in SJ Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We do not do sports practices or events, or participate in theater groups that have rehearsals or performances on Sunday. Yes, this means we have left teams or not tried out for roles. We also do not watch sports (live or on TV) on the Sabbath. This is particularly difficult during the Stanley Cup Playoffs or the All-Star game for the NHL and for the Super Bowl; not to mention the Indy 500 :D Amber in SJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swirl Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We do attend baseball tournaments on Sundays during the season. We have also had a few games and practices on Wednesday nights. This is frowned upon greatly in our church. If the doors are open you are expected to be there. This is taught from the pulpit. But DS wanted to be part of a certain team that played at a higher level, and Sunday tournaments are a part of it. The season really isn't that long, and we are there for every other service and activity the rest of the year. I'm sure we are a great disappointment to many though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We do not do sports (or other recreational activities) on Sunday. And here in Utah, I don't think any youth leagues even play on Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We have never had the issue yet all of the sports our dc have been involved in have played games on Saturday. We would not skip church for sports though.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Wow, you people are lucky you're not Jewish. I wonder if you'd choose the same if you had a Friday night/Saturday restriction? (Which is, mind you, the *actual* Sabbath!) There are Jews that do so, but many do so and must choose not to participate in activities at all. So we do Saturday/Fri night activities. Otherwise we'd just be divorcing ourselves from the community, basically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We have shows four times a year on Sundays, sometimes we build sets on Sundays. Our church uas morning amdbevening service on Sundays and a Saturday night. We miss church sometimes. We are fine with that. I would not sign up for something that was every Sunday, but the occasional Sundaafter church hours (or between)is not a big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Wow, you people are lucky you're not Jewish. I wonder if you'd choose the same if you had a Friday night/Saturday restriction? (Which is, mind you, the *actual* Sabbath!) There are Jews that do so, but many do so and must choose not to participate in activities at all. So we do Saturday/Fri night activities. Otherwise we'd just be divorcing ourselves from the community, basically. I do not do it because I have a restriction (I personally don't believe that there is one) but because going to church is a higher priority for me and my family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Ds16 was a swimmer for years. He chose to make Wednesday the more important day (over Sunday) as he felt that he got the most out of Wednesday services at the time. He had bible study, youth group and helped with the younger kids on Wednesday from 5:30-10pm. He attended Sunday services as he was available, but declined all practices and meets that occurred on Wednesday (he was on a public high school team that had Wednesday meets). We allowed it to be his choice and he had sound reasons for choosing Wednesday. There were times that his coach would hint to my son, that he would like to see him on Wednesday too, but he was never disrespectful or pushy about it. The coach was being honest...he would have liked him to be there. LOL Ds knew he had my support and I would back his choice. If he had chosen Sunday, I would have supported that as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We chose to never sign up for any soccer teams that would require Sunday games, and thankfully it never became an issue. Like others, we made the decision ahead of time and chose not to participate if it interfered with our practice of church and family time on Sunday. In our area it seems that more and more sports activities take place on Sunday, and it saddens my heart because it wasn't that way when I was growing up at all. Sundays and Wednesdays were always respected as off days for extra curricular activities because it was a given that the majority of families were involved in church. But hey -- I'm old, and boy has the world changed since then. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 Thanks, all. It helps to hear your perspectives and experiences. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalknot Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We currently live in the Bible Belt. Coming from a non-Christian background, our first year of coaching was an eye-opener! It's an unwritten expectation that there will be no games or practices on Wednesdays, and nothing on Sundays before early afternoon. Three of the kids in my family play on travel teams, but since Christianity is so pervasive here all of the leagues take it into consideration when scheduling. There are rarely occasions where a Christian player must choose between worship and sports. May I ask a question that is sort of relevant, but sort of not? Why Wednesdays? My kids are Catholic because it's the faith of their father, but the Catholic churches don't seem to do the Wednesday thing (around here, at least). Sundays, I understand, but what is the significance of Wednesdays to non-Catholic Christians? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We do not do sports (or other recreational activities) on Sunday. And here in Utah, I don't think any youth leagues even play on Sunday. I wish. I'd love that. We've not joined organized sports due to the fact that just about every sports game in this city is on a Sunday. We also don't make plans for Wednesday evenings so that is why my kids only get a fencing lesson 1x a week instead of 2x. Most Protestant churches have their mid-week service on Wednesdays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Wow, you people are lucky you're not Jewish. I wonder if you'd choose the same if you had a Friday night/Saturday restriction? (Which is, mind you, the *actual* Sabbath!) There are Jews that do so, but many do so and must choose not to participate in activities at all. So we do Saturday/Fri night activities. Otherwise we'd just be divorcing ourselves from the community, basically. Actually I know many 7th Day Adventists who don't participate in sports on Saturdays which is their Sabbath. Now that I think about it, that probably explains why we have so many Sunday sports here. We have a large 7th Day Adventist population. LOL. Duh. I probably should've figured that out sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda in TX Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We don't do sports, but our kids are in an area youth symphony that rehearses on Sunday afternoons. It rarely interferes with church, but does sometimes keep the kids from participating in youth activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We are considering a league with Sunday games from 1-6 and occasional all-weekend tournaments. We're fine with that, since we could easily attend 9:00 services. Regularly attending, and being active in, church is our priority. It's not the day. If we were able to do that by attending Saturday nights or Wednesday nights, than that would be a possibility for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We are just beginning to have some conflicts in this area. Wondering what others do and how you decide? Are you unusual in your church in how you handle this? Do you treat tournaments or recitals differently from regular practices or games? :bigear: Since the big place to do soccer has the older kids play on Sundays, yes they do play on Sundays. Unusual in my church - not among the soccer families. Except among the soccer families, we are the only ones who play rec not challenge or classic. Tournaments take the whole weekend, including Sunday so when we do a tourney, yep it includes playing on Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We have some soccer games on Sunday afternoons, but they are always scheduled after 1pm so they don't conflict with services. We also play football and have practices Tues, Weds, and Thurs, nights. Wednesday nights can be a problem and some children do not come to practice because of church services. I respect their commitment and belief, but at the same time the child and his parents have to understand that it is a choice and a sacrifice. If you can't come to Wednesdays practice it is going to change your position and play time. It isn't punishment, but just a fact that you are missing 2 hours a week of practice that other kids are getting. It isn't religious intolerance, it is football and skill levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialmama Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We don't sign up for anything that requires Sunday participation. We have found that really honouring that day does make a difference in our lives. We are more relaxed, ready to tackle the week. Less peace when we don't honour it. Then again, the argument can be made that Saturday is actually the Sabbath, the day of rest. Sunday is the day that Christians observe because it's "The Lord's Day"... I mean, pastors work on Sunday, they just take an alternate day to rest. It comes down to this: do you have one day a week (Saturday or Sunday) that you will rest and choose to honour for Him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 I may be alone in this, but I feel like it's a little bit, um, legalistic to not participate in anything on Sundays just because it is Sunday. I don't see why a sports games or recitals or anything like that would be considered to be 'work' anyway - isn't that the deal? We aren't supposed to 'work' on Sunday? In which case, would you never let your dc have a job that required them to work on Sundays?? I can see if that is the ONLY day that you and your family can have 'family time' (whatever that even means! :lol: ), but I would think you could enjoy being together as a family just as easily at an hour long soccer game as you could sitting at home doing whatever 'family time' constitutes. It's still being together. ?? I'm really not trying to be rude, I just think it's kind of odd. If it isn't taking someone away from church, who cares? Oh, and in response to the Wednesday night thing - pretty much all churches have Wednesday night services/activities. Our church has bible studies, book clubs, youth group, and kids stuff (royal rangers/mpact girls) on Wednesday nights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We've never had a Sunday recital. When my son played club soccer, the teams often traveled out of town over an entire weekend for a series of games, tournaments, etc. I hated it! We switched him back to rec soccer for a variety of reasons and if they play on Sunday, it is only in the afternoons, between church services, so we have had no difficulty. We've heard lots of families here express a desire for recreation not to interfere with church and it seems that our rec leagues in this area are listening.... Long ago, my older son swam for a Y team and one of their practices for the week was on Sunday evenings, right during church time, so he just did not attend that practice. I know there are other teams here that do not practice on Sunday at all, however, and never have. I think families can ask for what they want and vote with their pocket books. If teams perceive that they're losing business by Sunday play/practice times, then I think they will change to accommodate their customers.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 I may be alone in this, but I feel like it's a little bit, um, legalistic to not participate in anything on Sundays just because it is Sunday. I don't see why a sports games or recitals or anything like that would be considered to be 'work' anyway - isn't that the deal? We aren't supposed to 'work' on Sunday? In which case, would you never let your dc have a job that required them to work on Sundays?? I can see if that is the ONLY day that you and your family can have 'family time' (whatever that even means! :lol: ), but I would think you could enjoy being together as a family just as easily at an hour long soccer game as you could sitting at home doing whatever 'family time' constitutes. It's still being together. ?? I'm really not trying to be rude, I just think it's kind of odd. If it isn't taking someone away from church, who cares? Oh, and in response to the Wednesday night thing - pretty much all churches have Wednesday night services/activities. Our church has bible studies, book clubs, youth group, and kids stuff (royal rangers/mpact girls) on Wednesday nights. Why the need to comment on other people and their conscience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Why the need to comment on other people and their conscience? I'm not trying to...I just want to be sure that everyone is making up their OWN mind, kwim?? Like, I feel like there is a lot of 'WE do this because it's what we're supposed to do' type thing...without mentioning that everyone isn't necessarily 'supposed' to do the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 I'm not trying to...I just want to be sure that everyone is making up their OWN mind, kwim?? Like, I feel like there is a lot of 'WE do this because it's what we're supposed to do' type thing...without mentioning that everyone isn't necessarily 'supposed' to do the same thing. If you did a poll, I think you would find that different people do it for different reasons. Some because they are "supposed to do it" (which I think would mean that they've made up their own mind to obey the OT Sabbath laws on Sunday), some like SpecialMama just want a rest, some like me want the focus on church and on learning God's word and I'm sure there are other reasons I haven't even thought of. There was a thread (a couple of months ago?) on whether you should keep the Sabbath. Here it is! http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=291572&highlight=Sabbath+rest You'll see lots of opinions given here that show that people have given it a lot of thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We do. But, so far it has been rare. My 14 yo plays on a competitive baseball team. He is a pitcher. If he didn't attend the Sunday games (they are fairly rare - I think we missed two Sundays last year), he couldn't play on this team. This is the best team for him, so we allow it. My 10 yo ds also plays on a travel team, but it isn't as competitive. And, quite honestly, ds isn't one of the better players! So, last year, he missed one Sunday game and went to another. We do try to get to church another time when we have to miss due to a sporting conflict. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 I may be alone in this, but I feel like it's a little bit, um, legalistic to not participate in anything on Sundays just because it is Sunday. I don't see why a sports games or recitals or anything like that would be considered to be 'work' anyway - isn't that the deal? We aren't supposed to 'work' on Sunday? In which case, would you never let your dc have a job that required them to work on Sundays?? I can see if that is the ONLY day that you and your family can have 'family time' (whatever that even means! :lol: ), but I would think you could enjoy being together as a family just as easily at an hour long soccer game as you could sitting at home doing whatever 'family time' constitutes. It's still being together. ?? I'm really not trying to be rude, I just think it's kind of odd. If it isn't taking someone away from church, who cares? There are businesses who don't open on Sunday (Chic-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby around here, for instance) and, yes, my nephew was excited to get a job at Chic-Fil-A because it meant he didn't have to make a choice on Sundays. Until very recently we had "blue laws" so that businesses (other than churches ;)) could not open on Sundays (or, if they could open, could not sell certain items) before 12pm to allow people to go to church. You cannot buy alcohol in NC, for instance, before noon on Sunday currently, though you can from 7am other days of the week. 'http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/nchistory/jan2010/index.html http://www.snopes.com/language/colors/bluelaws.asp It goes along with federal/state holidays and school holidays tied to major Christian festivals--continuations of preferential treatment given to Christianity despite the ideal of separation of church and state. It's something that most folks who are Christianity don't even see as a difference in treatment most of the time because they've grown up with it. I liked the PP's comment about "our priorities need to be our priorities." We are dealing with that now in terms of church attendance (church split to two services, creating conflicts in some of the activities we've long done), participation in martial arts (every Saturday am is aikido, and most Girl Scout activities as well as some church youth group related activities and things like Science Olympiad competitions happen on Saturday mornings). We're also dealing with that in terms of homeschooling----how much time is given to outside activities (field trips, outside classes, etc) vs. consistent time at home for bookwork now that we've hit middle school. It's a constant balancing act. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 No, and it means we've had to pass by some opportunities for teams we would have done otherwise. Same here, and, quite honestly, we limit church activities on Sunday evenings sometimes, too. I don't want to be at church all day on the day we reserve for our family. We do things on Saturdays and during the week at church (on most weeks), and the overplanning of our lives tends to wear on me on a regular basis. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 My sons play on Sundays. One is at basketball practice now. We have family time and worship time all week on our own schedule instead of keeping one day set aside. When the boys have games or tournaments, we go as a family unless we have to split up between both kids. I don't have a problem when others do, I think it's however you decide will work for your family. I don't understand families that have their kids try out for traveling teams where weekend tournaments/Sundays are part of the schedule if they don't play on Sundays. We had a kid like that on a baseball team last year. Lovey lovely family, very likable. They don't allow their kids to play or practice on Sunday. I'm not sure if it's their personal decision or their church (LDS). When the team made the state tournament and had four games go into extra innings and everyone was exhausted and we completely ran out of pitchers by Sunday, that missing teammate hurt everyone else. Also when they took the team picture with the trophy, that kid wasn't in the picture, so the team manager felt guilty and didn't submit it to local paper. Which stinks because it was a big accomplishment and a great picture! My personal thought is that it's great to have your principles/priorities, but please don't take a spot on a team where another player could be, one who would be able to participate in the scheduled activities. It's a TEAM sport! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Again Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Sundays are for worship. Period. How can we teach our children to put God first in their lives if we allow them to miss church to attend sports? They will see that to us, sports come first, then God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwin Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 We have activities on Sundays, but nothing that would require us to miss church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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