Faith
Grandparents Key to Passing Along Faith
A pastor makes it his mission to help new generations brought up with no spiritual legacy.
A BY CARRIE SHEFFIELD
merica’s younger gen- erations hold far more secular views than previ- ous generations, though a
new ministry exclusively for grand- parents is hoping to combat this decline in spiritual life among their grandchildren. A survey by the American Enter- prise Institute shows Generation Z
(ages 18-24) and millennials (25-40) less likely to have grown up attending religious services or saying grace at meals than Generation X (41-56) or baby boomers (57-75). It also found that Americans
raised in two-parent households were more active in religion growing up, which could partially explain the decline as more U.S. babies are entering the world to unmarried parents. Pastor Bob Petterson,
76, of Naples, Florida, felt discouraged by the decline in Christian participation among younger people.
After decades pastoring numer-
ous churches and ministries, includ- ing a megachurch in Oklahoma, Pet- terson launched The Legacy Impera- tive nearly four years ago to combat this trend. A grandfather himself, Petterson
PETTERSON
You Are the ‘Cheerleader,’ Not the Parent F
our out of 5 Americans under 40 name their grandparents as their favorite people, Petterson says. This gives grandparents special access to their grandkids’
hearts and primes the kids to be receptive to their grandparents’ faith. Petterson said this special place for grandparents is
because parents play the role of “coach” and can be too harsh, while grandparents play the role of “cheerleader” and off er unconditional love. In Legacy Imperative training conferences for grandparents,
58 NEWSMAX | DECEMBER 2023
aims to equip grandparents to “pass on our faith legacy before it’s too late.” He said his church-based trainings for grandparents nationwide have affected approximately 120,000 grand- kids so far, though Petterson aspires to reach millions. “When I saw the horrifi c
Petterson said rule No. 1 is that “you are the cheerleader. You’re no longer the parents, your adult children’s coach. You had your shot. Now, they are the coach. “I played a lot of sports, and no coach in the world ever made
you feel unconditionally loved,” Petterson said. “I remember dropping the ball at a very critical game that
fumbled it, and we lost. I guarantee I didn’t go to the sideline and have the coach put his arm around me and say, ‘Oh, I just love you unconditionally. You’re the best guy.’ “Because not only is the coach building young men and
PRAY/JOSE LUIS PELAEZ INC/GETTY IMAGES / PETTERSON/FACEBOOK@DRBOBPETTERSON
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108
