Flotsam & Jetsam (3.15.06)

An interesting piece on children and public worship.  Hat Tip:  SI.

Submission to the church?  That's not going to make one very popular.

If you missed the first edition, you can get the second.

On the use of projection during worship.

Mohler on March Madness...man this guy is prolific, and how does he find time for this?

Mike Adams being Mike Adams.

This is just incredible .

Comments

[rob]

Joe Millner brought two identical Suduko puzzle books with him. I had never heard of them. We've been doing a few head-to-head every day. He's started out beating me pretty good, but I'm catching up.

[melanie]

i'd be interested in hearing your views about children in church, especially since you're a pastor.

i'll admit that in the past i had also thought that children's church or nursery was a time to keep the kids occupied. however, (and after conviction from the Lord!) for over a year now i've taken my children's church ministry more seriously and have seen it as an opportunity to really work with the kids so that they have a solid foundation of the scriptures. (my kids are between the ages of 3 and 8.)

nevertheless, i've had a lot of tension going on in my thoughts lately. not about children's church, per se, but more about what goes on before children's church when the kids are still in the service. i mean, parents will let their kids walk up the side or center aisle or sometimes girls will talk to each other (with a parent sitting right next to them) or kids will color really loudly or will knock over their glass of pens/pencils/markers. (this usually happens on wednesday or sunday evenings.)

perhaps the thing that bothers me the most is when the kids run out of the service to use the restroom.

am i being overly sensitive here?

because i do find these sorts of things distracting.

when i was a child (back in the day...) i was "programmed" by my mother to use the restroom before the service. tough luck for me if i had forgotten. we also didn't have children's church back then, so i was expected to sit quietly (and sometimes i slept) beginning at the age of two. if i kicked the pew in front of me or did something similar, i was taken out and spanked. that made me learn quickly...

do we just expect more out of today's kids? as in, are they unable to sit quietly for such a long period of time?

does this type of activity bother a pastor--or just churchfolk like myself?

i've sensed that i've had a lot of critical thoughts about this lately, so maybe i just need to have a forgiving heart about it all!

[jon]

Melanie,

Sorry so long to reply...not ignoring you, just busy with other stuff away from the blogworld.

I use to be of the opinion that children should exit stage right when it came to worship, but after my own little arrows came along I changed my tune. I am not too thrilled with all the divisions we have created in church through graded teaching. While I am certain age appropriate learning is vital, I am also certain families worshiping together is vital.

Just as in your personal experience (and mine as well), children can learn to sit quietly during worship--they do so at school for much longer periods of time. While it is true they may not "get much out of it" in their younger years, they are learning other valuable character traits while they sit with their parents.

I have included a portion in our morning order of worship called the "Word of Wisdom" that is often geared toward our kids--it is a focus on a Proverb and sometimes includes an object lesson.

We still have children's church...for ages Kindergarten through 4th grade...but parents can opt to keep their kids out of it. The kids stay in the service right up to the sermon.

I am not didstracted by behavior in the service, but our parents do a good job of maintaining control--I think this should be expected.

We have allowed this "family" concept to seep into our youth group as well...for example, moms and dads go on the youth group outings...bowling for instance...we are attempting to counter this "doing things with my parents is not cool" mentality.

Ok...just a few random thoughts to move the conversation along.

jon

[melanie]

thanks for sharing your thoughts. i guess the children's church program at our church might be a bit similar to yours. maybe it's just that people here have a different idea (from me) on what it means to maintain control of their kids. perhaps it even has to do with the way our church is set up in the auditorium. i just can't imagine some of those things taking place in my churches in ohio or south carolina. (the whispering, yes, but not the walking up and down the aisles!)

i think getting the parents involved in outings is a good thing. when i was younger i used to really want to have a youth pastor instead of having parents be in charge. however, now i realize that allowing parents to be involved is a part of discipleship too. it's another way for parents to learn how to be better spiritual leaders. and of course it's fantastic if it helps build up family relationships!