Comments on: Little Ones in Church

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:24:34 +0000

Amen! And teach them those hymns, songs, and Psalms at home all day every day.. dance and sing around your house! Then the highlight of the week is when they get to sing them w/their church family.

Even babies can be taught to “rest” and enjoy the service. Elisabeth Elliot wrote on this years ago. It changed our expectations and freed our family up to do many things. We started right then w/our 5 month old who was our second child. You can have lots of little children (we even have 3 who were adopted at non-infant ages…. no training prior to entering our family at ages 4-6), you can have a 2 hour service, and you can have contented children who love it. It is possible. It is training! Once they are taught to obey w/their bodies, then you are freed up to lead them into LOVING it. We form their tastes in this way and have never regretted it. Teach them to LOVE THE LORD’S DAY and form their tastes for the best things! (don’t form their tastes w/dancing vegetables and junior church — it’s not the worst thing in the world but maybe we can do better? )… Whoohoo!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:39:19 +0000

I was not happy with my children just sitting still and being quite in church. I wanted them to participate escpecially in worship. There were numerous stumbling blocks to this. They could not read. When they learned to read they were unable to see the screens. The music changed everyweek and so they never learned any one song. I found a book (Parenting In The Pew) which was a tremendous help and one of the suggestions was to help the children hum along to the music. It took a little encouragement but they eventually got and enjoyed being able to participate. I can’t tell you what a joy it was to watch my son teaching this to his cousins when they attended church with us. He said, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to know the words. You can just hum along like this!” Proud moment for me!

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:56:53 +0000

Excellent post!

By: Megan Lindsay

Megan Lindsay — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:08:59 +0000

One of the things that has blessed our family over the past few years is when other families ask if one (or more) of our children can sit with them. I know many parents are not comfortable with their children sitting with other families, and as a general rule we agree. However, it is really delightful to have a break periodically. I find that I can worship with concentration, and the lift in my soul spills over to my children — whom I happen to always be watching with great affection and thanksgiving a pew or two away.

My 3-year old will turn around and give us a cherubic little wave or squishy face, and then turn around and sit still. Or my 7-year old will bound up to me after the service and tell me what she remembered from the sermon. We can allow our children to sit with other families because we know their concerns and expectations are the same as ours, and most of all their love for covenant children. I’m sure when our girls get older, and our ability to concentrate is no longer compromised by squirminess, we will keep our children with us, and offer the same gift to other young families. In the meantime, the breaks sure are refreshing, for us parents and for the kids.

By: Cathe

Cathe — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:04:43 +0000

“Parenting in the Pew” by Robbie Castleman — we did a study on this book, and hopefully it will inspire more young people to raise up their children in the weekly worship service. It’s a good book. As with any human manuscript, there will be things that each of us likes and dislikes. There is strong emphasis on meaningful worship in children rather than just sitting still.

By: Julie Jones

Julie Jones — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:32:51 +0000

I, too, am a pastor’s wife and sit with my five children in the worship service each week. My first four are boys, 9, 7,5 and 3 years old. It took me a while to come to believe that it was possible for me to train them to sit and participate in the service, especially by myself. It’s been over a year now since I have fully kept them all with me (we’re planting a church and there is no nursery). What a joy it is, now that I’ve been “forced” to do it. We practice and discuss the different parts of the service throughout the week so that they are all prepared and know exactly what to do. I effusively praise their successes on specific things afterwards. Now that they’re trained, it’s marvelous. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I also hold my one year old daughter in my lap and am pregnant and I can honestly say, it’s not difficult. It’s wonderful. It was hard at first, but the training has been so worth it and my children feel that they are a part of the people of God. I am thrilled to know that they will always grow up knowing that.

By: Kelly Orr

Kelly Orr — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:45:03 +0000

Mrs. Wilson,
Thank you for the wonderful post.

And - Valerie - thank you for the gentle reminder. You’re right!

By: Colleen

Colleen — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:20:55 +0000

As a pastor’s wife who has to spend about 3 hours tending the children (ages 6, 5, 3, and 1) by myself during the service, I have really appreciated having one of the older girls “on hand” to help with the kids… if I need to go downstairs to nurse the baby, she notices me get up and comes right over to sit by my girls. The girls know that we expect them to be obedient to her and to participate in the service, so there’s no drama as we switch places. Thanks for addressing this topic, Nancy. It’s great to get tips from other people, too!

By: Valerie (Kyriosity)

Valerie (Kyriosity) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:21:36 +0000

Single women and moms who need an extra pair of hands — a symbiotic match made in heaven. Asking a single friend to sit with you is a great way to include her in your family. Then extend it after the service by inviting her home for lunch. C’mon…you can fit one more at your table. If she’s offended that Martha Stewart doesn’t live at your house, that’s her problem, but I think it most cases this sort of arrangement will become mutually blessingful as each party gets to serve and be served by the other.

By: Nancy Ann

Nancy Ann — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:34:06 +0000

Leslie,
I don’t think it is bad at all to give a little one a snack during the sermon. As long as you are not breaking out the picnic blanket and offering him a three course meal, which would be a bit of a distraction, particularly to the other children nearby, I think it is all part of getting him to where you want him to be. Of course, the long-term goal is for him to make it to the end of the service without a snack, but in the meantime I would encourage you to be discreet. I have seen one father diligently feeding his son cheerios before the service so that he would be satisfied during the service. But as long as this is nurturing him toward the goal, I think it is just fine.
If you can find someone to help you, great. Sometimes a teenage girl is quite happy to help, but do enlist some aid. Back in the day when our children were little, I missed quite a few Sundays because someone was sick. During the chicken pox marathon, I was out for six weeks because my kids decided to get it in sequence rather than all together. It was during that time I think that one of the college guys asked me where I went to church. But those times do pass. Hang in there!