In developmental research, religiousness is typically measured with omnibus affiliation or attendance variables that underspecify how the religious cultural contexts and experiences that affiliation represents influence developmental outcomes. This study explores associations between five aspects of a religious cultural context (family religiosity, religious schooling, church‐based relationships with peers and adults, and view of God) in 844 seven‐ to 12‐year‐old Christian children to examine how they differentially predict self‐esteem. Results of a structural equation model (SEM) analysis indicated that God image and peer church relationships directly predicted self‐esteem, whereas God image mediated the influence of adult church relationships and family religious practices on self‐esteem. A multiple group SEM analysis met the criterion for weak, but not strong, evidence that self‐esteem is more related to younger children's adult church relationships but older children's peer church relationships. God image tended to be more related to younger children's family religious practices but older children's adult church relationships. Implications for developmental researchers and practitioners are discussed.