September 25, 2026
Barry Meguiar: Faith that lasts starts at home
IgniteAmerica urges parents to make everyday faith-sharing a family priority rather than outsourcing children’s spiritual foundation
PHOENIX — Parents who want their children to carry a durable Christian faith into adulthood should make sharing their faith a visible, everyday part of family life rather than leave spiritual formation primarily to the Church, according to Barry Meguiar, founder and president of IgniteAmerica.
Recent Pew Research Center findings underscore the influence of religious upbringing. Pew reported 82% of adults raised in highly religious households still identify with their childhood religion, compared with 47% raised in households with low religiousness.
Pew also found that among parents of children younger than 18, 25% discuss religion with their children extremely or very often, while another 31% do so somewhat often. Sixty-three percent say their children regularly participate in at least one of five religious activities, including prayer, reading religious stories or listening to religious music.
Meguiar said those findings reinforce a message he has long emphasized: Parents cannot assume a child’s spiritual foundation will be built simply through church attendance.
“There is this disconnect between what we believe and what we do — our actions. We say we believe in God. We read Scripture. We read it out loud. We read it to our kids. We hear about God in church. We sing His praises in the songs. But when it comes right down to the practicality of our faith, we don’t live our lives as we believe it.”
In an interview with the late Dr. James Dobson, Meguiar also pointed to research he said connects religious practice with broader measures of well-being.
“There is secular research that proves beyond a doubt that it doesn’t matter if you’re Christian or not, if you want your child to have a healthy life, to not be depressed, to have a healthy mind, to have a long-lasting marriage, to have a healthy career… There’s nothing you can do that will have the impact of having your child in church reading the Bible and praying to God,” shared Meguiar.
IgniteAmerica encourages parents to make faith-sharing natural through its “Faith Conversations for Everyday Life” resource, which is designed to help Christians turn ordinary interactions into opportunities to reflect God’s love and discuss faith with their children and others.
“A church can encourage your children, teach them and surround them with believers, but parents have the daily opportunity to show them what trusting God looks like in real life,” Meguiar said. “When faith is part of ordinary conversations, decisions, struggles and celebrations at home, children see that Christianity is not simply something their family does on Sunday. It is how their family lives.”
Meguiar said the goal is not to make every family conversation formal or forced. Instead, parents can model faith consistently, talk openly about God and help children connect biblical truth to daily experiences.
Through IgniteAmerica and Ignite NextGen, an online resource helping Gen Z Christians share their faith through social media, Meguiar equips Christians for faith-sharing and helps younger generations build a foundation to endure into adulthood.
IgniteAmerica is a national movement founded by Barry Meguiar dedicated to equipping Christians to share their faith and spark revival across the United States. Through resources, community connections and practical tools, IgniteAmerica seeks to move everyone, every day, closer to Jesus. Find out more at https://igniteamerica.com/.
Barry Meguiar is the third-generation president of Meguiar’s Car Wax, the top-selling car wax in America and in countries around the world. His “Car Crazy” television show aired for 18 years and was viewed on Discovery Channel Networks globally. He’s led lay ministries for the Assemblies of God and was honored by the Assemblies of God as their Layman of the Year, by the National Religious Broadcasters with their Billy Graham Award, with Moody Bible’s 1886 Legacy Award and with an honorary doctorate by Northwest University.
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To interview Barry Meguiar, contact Hamilton Strategies, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Linda Klosterman, LKlosterman@hamiltonstrategies.com.
