Monday, August 2, 2010

Children in worship... our search continues

My heart hurts when I am browsing church websites (yes, some people actually DO use your websites, churches, so step it UP) and I come across something like this:
"Parents opting to bring Children into the main worship:
If you bring children into the Adult worship we ask that you respect the people seated around you by IMMEDIATELY taking your child to the lobby or to Promiseland. NOTE: Parents with children may be asked by our ushers to take their children out of the auditorium during the service should they become a distraction. Please let your kids experience Promiseland!
"

We want our child to worship with us. If you blatantly tell me the above type of statement, I am heartbroken. No, I'm not going to stay in a worship space with my child flailing and screaming... but she might make noise by babbling back at the pastor's message or by dropping her sippy cup or by clapping her own sweet little hands.

We want a church that wants to let us worship with our child... where it isn't odd or uncomfortable for us to do so. When did the church become a place where families worshipped in compartmentalized ways throughout a building? Yes, Sunday School or some equivalent is a great way to learn and grow on your own age level BUT isn't that COMPLEMENTARY to worshipping as a whole family unit?

I also don't understand why SO many churches are still using the Sunday School hour (or whatever hour you call this) as the same time to offer the more contemporary (only using this word because it most easily denotes non-traditional) worship service. I, AGAIN, want to choose to worship with my child and my husband in the type of worship that we feel led in AND still have the opportunity for both my child and for us as a couple to attend "classes" or "groups" at a separate time with others.

If you actually read this (lol, and for that I say thanks for bearing with me and my small ranting), pray for us as we look for where God wants us to be as a family when it comes to the church setting. It is completely JOYFUL that I get to stay at home with our sweet daughter, Jillien. But it has definitely been a hard transition to walk away from the church we grew to love and serve when I left my job as youth director there and now try to find where we are meant to land next.