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The Sunday sport dilemma - how does your family handle it?

When your children are sporty and their team plays on Sunday mornings, what's your approach?

There's a very helpful and thoughtful article in the latest Christians in Sport e-newsletter Back Pages Online, on the thorny topic of children's Sunday sport.

This was an area we had to grapple with some years back when our eldest son was throwing himself with gusto into local football, and then tennis. If there were matches or tournaments on a Sunday morning, should we let him play if it meant missing church?

Fortunately they were more often on Saturdays than Sundays, and the last thing we wanted to do was give him the idea that his love of sport wasn't an intrinsic part of the person God made him. So the occasional Sunday out was OK with us, particularly if he had a club or midweek group giving spiritual input.

Some churches have started their own football teams which take part in local leagues. Others only play against other churches at a mutually convenient time.

You might feel the latter is a bit of a cop-out from engaging with the world, and missing an opportunity. You might feel the former downplays the importance of Sunday worship, if games take place on a Sunday morning.

Whatever your take on the issue, have a read of the article – I'd be interested to hear your views.

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