Children in Church

We have belonged to large churches and very small ones and it seems a common area of concern is the little children. 

When children are not accustomed to sitting quietly. . .they can become a distraction to the pastor as well as the people sitting nearby.

In large churches the answer is a nursery.  All children under the age of 3 are expected to be put in the nursery.  Depending on the size of the church, the children may then be promoted to children's church.  Children's church is designed to teach elementary age children how to sit still and listen, and the hope is when they graduate to the sanctuary they will know how to behave, sit still and listen to the sermon without disrupting the service.  Unfortunately this is seldom the case.

We have never been in favor of churches separating families and sending different age groups off to different classes or activities.  So we have not used the nursery nor children's church.

We believe the church should reinforce parental authority and the family structure.  We do not believe children should be taken from their family and sent to nursery, Sunday School or children's church.  However, if children are to remain with their parents in the service they must understand what is expected of them and they must be disciplined.

We believe it is the parent's responsibility to explain to their children what is expected of them-that they must be quiet and pay attention while the Pastor is speaking.  If a problem develops the parent should remove the child and deal with the situation in private.

We are currently attending a family-oriented church.  Everyone meets together in the same room and families sit together.  We do not have a nursery or Sunday School.  Our service lasts about 2-2 1/2 hours and the children sit still and listen.  If a child gets restless, one of the parents will remove them until they are ready to behave.

It is unfortunate that church's have reached a place where they feel it necessary to separate families and weaken the family unit.  It is also unfortunate that so many parents do not discipline their children but, instead, seem to be proud that their child has an 'attitude' or is a 'free spirit' or any other justification for the parent's lack of discipline.

It is important we realize who God has placed in charge of the family - and it is not the child.  It is time for parents to practice godly discipline and responsibility for their children's development.