The teen years are often the hardest years for a kid to go to church. Many reasons why - too much social pressure (sad this happens in church, but it does), chaotic youth meetings, leaders who don't make kids feel truly welcome, too big, too small, boring, whatever. In my experience, most of the kids I know who didn't like church had nothing to do with not being interested in God, but was rather some social issue that makes church awkward rather than a blessing.
Sometimes I think kids are expected to put up with more than we as their parents would when it comes to church. For instance, if my DH and I don't feel like we fit in with our life group (small group) at church, there are about 10 other life groups we could check into and we'd probably find one we like. But our kids only have 1 big youth group to either like or not like. It's kind of a bummer for them.
What we do: At the moment, our kids fall into the category of not particularly liking church. So we've helped them find ministries they like where they are valued and the awkward social pressure is virtually gone. So they grudgingly go to their class first, and then afterward they can do their ministry work. In our case, our kids make and serve coffee, and they love it. Whatever it takes to get them in the door. THis is what works for us.
