Children can become restless and unfocused in church, I personally think they should only go if they can appreciate the service fully.
And I am yet to meet a child who can.
I can't fully appreciate a service many times. I get restless and unfocused....and I'm 19.
Its good for kids to have a place where they can learn about the LORD in their own way. However, I also feel that it is somtimes important for kids to see their parents worshipping the LORD and how they react to their pastor's teaching. "Do mom and dad listen to what the pastor has to say?" "How should I worship God?" Your kids will follow you as you follow Christ. It is HARD for kids to be in service because they get bored or distracted. But if that is how your church does things, it might be wise to set up a reward/consequence system for your children. It is also good for kids to know that THEY can worship in the service too. They are apart of the church and they should feel like part of the family.
__________________ How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them. (Psalm 111:2 NLT)
im a firm beliver in preaching to children, so they can lead a godly life.
my church keeps the kids in for praise and worship and the scripture reading, but sends them to jr. church for the sermon. its great for the kids, who get to do crafts with a bible story, and great forthe adults, who can focuse on the sermon.
As far as general worship goes I don't think it's useful for children under 14. Even children up to 18 unless they're dedicated to it are probably not going to enjoy it.
I always found youth groups with certain age ranges to be the best from my experience as a former youth. Children see the world through different eyes and much less experience and can't relate to how adults see things.
As the mother of 4 young ones (7 and under) I would LOVE it if my kids had a program to go to during the whole service.
Children's Church is as much a ministry to the parents as it is to the kids.
That way it will be easier for them to continue going to church.
something to be chosen, admired and followed
Young kids are also too restless to make it through a few hours being away from home. There is sometimes an assumption that every family has one child. Families can have babies who need feeding, mixed with teens who have extra activities.
The reality is each family scrambles to get there in one piece, on time. It is a stretch to ask that everyone pack up their kids early for SS.
It is important for the church to be considerate of such a high proportion of its members. At the same time, it is also important to give parishioners some freedom of choice.
In contrast...
We visited a church that didn't allow our kids to sit with us in church. We didn't know anything about the church and didn't want to leave our kids with strangers.
My church makes it optional. It allows those parents who have children to drop them off at the beginning of service and they can stay during the whole service and have a worship experience that caters to their level and age group. The same thing with the teenagers as well. The thing I really love about my church is that it isn't just one of those thrown together children's ministries. They really cater to teaching your child how to love God, themselves, and the Bible. Hearing your story makes me appreciate the opportunity that my church provides for not only the children but the parents as well who deserve to be able to experience God's word without distraction. We discuss the importance of issues such as this in the Christian church on an alternate website as well called gracefriends.com.
I believe that secular schools can never be tolerated because such schools have no religious instruction, and a general moral instruction without religious foundation is built on air; consequently all character training and religion must be derived from faith.
This means that we need child services, and the younger, the better!
Our church has a children's SS class and adults SS class running simultaneously (of course in separate rooms) from 9:30-10:30.
During the 11:00am sermon the children's SS class is then used as a room where parents can stay with restless children while listening to the sermon via a speaker that's in the room for that purpose. In there are kept various puzzles, coloring handouts, a white board & markers, some toys and books that the children can occupy themselves with while the parents in the room listen to the sermon. We try to keep the activities/toys in the room as Bible-centered as possible.
...having said the above. From around the age of 5 years old, the children in our church generally do sit in on the sermon with the parents. Most parents bring activity books, drawing pads, reading books or other quiet activities to keep their children relatively still in church. We also try to include our children in the main service by having a 7-10 minute children story time within it. Or we may have a special song sung by the children to the congregation. And of course, a snack break helps stave off hunger complaints.
If there are enough adults to take turns conducting a children's church during sermon time, then at least one person is not going to get burned out doing so every week. But still I personally believe children should gradually be moved into the adult sermon when possible, so they can learn how to conduct themselves and to see the various roles they may one day be called to do as future leaders in the church.
Parent can choose to allow the children to go to children's church or to come by their side for the main service. Children's church can address a lot of things directly related to a child's needs more than just the bible classes. Each have their benefits, as long as they are not just a glorified babysitting class.
__________________ Since the Torah is a finite book expressing the will of an infinite God, many lessons must be derivable from each passage from all the infinite angles.
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