Children in Church

Last Sunday was Pentecost and to celebrate the birthday of The Church we had a party! The theme was red so many people came dressed in red. Our church was decorated (by the children during a song) in red streamers, balloons and paper plates. We had all the delights you would expect at a party; singing, birthday cake, games, presents, speeches, entertainment and lots of fun and laughter. This was one of our childrens services we have throughout the year. (You can see where the inspiration came from here)

It was interesting to see how the congregation responded to having a birthday party as a worship service. The balloons were a huge hit. We have several people from the Aged Care facility nearby join us on Sunday mornings and they had a ball hitting the balloons back and forth with the children. As part of the party games we made paper planes and wrote thank you prayers on them. People were then invited to the front to throw their planes together and see whose planes flew the furthest. Turns out we have quite a few people with a competitive spirit! We had thought it would encourage the pre-teen boys to get involved but people of all ages came to the front to fly their planes and show their plane making skills. Everyone was encouraged to fly their planes together and call out their thank you prayers together. As part of the party entertainment a Sundanese group sang and danced for us adding to the party atmosphere.

The service went over time, there were streamers and balloons and paper planes all over the church, and people did things they wouldn't normally do in a church service. It was one crazy, messy and exciting worship experience!!

It was with this experience still freshly in my mind that I read this article on "Why we don't allow children in our worship service"

I can't help but think how much this church misses out on not having all age worship, by not welcoming children and families to worship with others. I think of the older people in our congregation who got such a thrill by playing with balloons, I would think that's something they don't get many opportunities to do anymore. (I'm already thinking bubbles for our next all age service ;-)) I think of the opportunities the children had through the service to use their gifts and skills and to build confidence in them during the service. I think of adults who had the opportunity to hear the message of Pentecost in a fresh way. I think of the joy I saw on people's faces and the way people relaxed in the service in a way that was different from other Sundays.

In reply to the comments on his article, Bill LaMorey said "If I put in 20 hours of preparation for a message, I am not really excited about having everyone's attention on a crying baby instead of the teaching of God's word. You can call that hubris, but I call it common sense." I understand that a crying baby can be distracting, but how often does that happen? When my oldest child was a baby I was so embarrassed that while I was trying to pat my baby to sleep during the sermon the old ladies behind me were clucking over my baby in whispered tones. I spoke to the Minister afterwards and apologised for my baby being a distraction to the people behind me when they should have been listening to the sermon. His response to me was that maybe my baby was ministering to those women in a way his sermon wasn't able to that day. That response helped me as a Mother but it also helped me realise that we can all minister to each other in different ways no matter how old we are. (it also showed me that the Minister was comfortable enough to allow the Holy Spirit to work and to not need the attention on him as the Minister for a successful worship service) I have found in the churches I have attended where children are encouraged in services that children are more likely to be found dancing to the songs than crying through the sermon.

The article brings up many questions for me and I realise this is the opinion of one church and that they find this way works for them. I can't help but wonder what happens in this church to people who are intellectually disabled, have a mental illness, a condition that means they find it hard to sit still or stay quiet. Are they welcomed into the worship service or are they asked to watch the service in another room? (The article says they have a room where families who want to stay together can sit and watch the service via video)

As a mother I appreciate there are times where I enjoy being in a worship service without having the distractions of my children. I am grateful for our children's ministry volunteers who spend a lot of time preparing great quality children's programs and use their gifts and skills to teach and minister to my children. However, it's a choice and I also like the choice to have my children with me so we can worship together not only as a family but as part of the family of God. After our Pentecost service I asked my 7 year old what she heard in the sermon. She had heard quite a bit of the sermon, in some of her observations she had heard something different to the original context of the sermon but she had heard it in a way her 7 year old mind could understand and apply it to what she knew of God and how to apply it in her life. As she spoke I realised she was ministering to me as I heard the message, that I had given, in a different way.