Guest Author - Terrie Lynn Bittner

It’s challenging to figure out how to live some parts of the gospel when your family isn’t all LDS. If you have a non-LDS spouse, you walk a cautious line between bringing the gospel home and making him feel pressured. Family nights can be especially challenging if you want your children to have the experience and hope to convince the other parent to join you.

One way to do this is to keep Family Home Evening secular. These days, many people who aren’t LDS are setting aside one night a week for their families, and your spouse may be open to the idea as long as he knows you won’t use the time to sneak religion into his life. There are many essential gospel principles you both want your children to learn that aren’t specifically religious, and lessons can be geared to please both of you.

For example, you might ask your husband to help you prepare a series of lessons on safety. Each week, the lesson portion of the evening can include such skills as first aid, fire drills and using equipment safely. Certainly this is a gospel-appropriate activity, fitting into the preparedness portion of the gospel, but it is one that is not specifically LDS.

You might also focus on values you share. Lessons can discuss kindness, service, education, or honesty. You can find lessons on these subjects in the Family Home Evening manuals to give you a starting point, and simply remove anything outside your spouse’s religious beliefs. Help your children learn to teach the lessons without religion as well.

If you aren’t able to include any religion at all, including prayers, a sample family night might look like this:
1. Welcome by person conducting.
2. Song (Any song your family enjoys)
3. lesson on practical skill or shared value
4. fun activity together
5. Closing song
6. Treats

As you can see, it doesn’t look much different than an LDS family night. The only real differences are that you omit the prayer, replace a church song with another song, and don’t bring up religion. The important thing is to make the night comfortable and loving so you will be able to continue having them. While the spiritual aspects are beneficial, your children will still be able to create memories and know that they mattered enough that their parents gave them one evening a week to be together. A family night, with or without religion, is a time to build relationships that can someday lead to eternity.