For the last year, our staff has been talking about children in church - discussing it from all possible angles. We've discussed it to death, and I've talked to a half dozen other pastors about it. I've blogged about my personal opinions ( most recently here and here), but we're implementing an official policy @ OLC.
As a staff, we are making the decision to let our worship service be for those in 6th grade and up. (The only exception will be newborns three months or under.) This service is designed with middle school, high school, college students and adults in mind. KidVenture, on the other hand, is solely designed with children in mind. Teams of committed volunteers work hard all week long to prepare to teach children some of life’s most important truths.
Next weekend, as we kick off the Isn't She Lovely series, I'm going to talk about this with the whole church. Then, we'll send a letter to every parent in our database. But I wanted to give my blog readers a heads up. There are three primary reasons why we are making this decision.
1. Content. Our main service is designed for adults. We talk about what the Bible has to say about sex, parenting, and finances. In the fall, we’re going to devote several weeks to discussion abortion, drinking, racism and homosexuality. Most children are not ready to discuss these topics the way we’re going to talk about them. The music and the message isn’t always appropriate for children.
I remember sitting in church as a young child and being bored and confused, doodling on the bulletins and sticking gum under the pews. I literally hated going to “big church” and the only praying I did was that the service would end soon. I have met people who hate church now because they were forced to “sit still” when they were children. On the other hand, I can still remember some of the important lessons I learned in Sunday School, at Vacation Bible School and other kid-friendly environments. We don’t want to do anything that would promote to children the idea that God is boring, church is irrelevant and or Jesus is not for them.
2. Distractions. As a parent, if your child is in this service, you will have to devote a considerable amount of attention to helping them behave appropriately. Anytime I am in public with any of my children, I have to devote at least some of my focus to helping them behave properly.
As your child’s parent, it may not bother you to have them fidget in their seats or cry, but I can guarantee you that it bothers those sitting around you. Because what we’re doing is so important, we want everyone in this room to be able to focus on the message and participate in worship. I personally struggle with distractions, and they often come up at the most crucial part of the message. As the pastor, it’s hard for me to concentrate on the message when I am trying to tune out a crying child. The focus of I Corinthians 14 is maintaining a sense of order in a public worship service. While we obviously don’t want any parent to get upset and leave the church over this, but we don’t want the desires of a few to outweigh the needs of many.
I do not want anyone to get angry and leave the church, but I do want you to respect the hundreds of other people in the room, as well as the person on the stage trying to communicate God's Word with passion, clarity and focus.
3. Appropriate Environments. We never want to think of children as distractions, and it’s not their fault if they act out in an environment that was not designed for them. We have an excellent environment for children.
In addition to being a pastor, I am also a parent. I can say that there is no other place that I want my children on Sunday morning than in their age-appropriate environment in KidVenture. We are proud of the environment that we have created for children. They will learn about Jesus through stories, songs, games and crafts. Some of these things, they will remember for life.
I also want everyone I know to speak Biblical truth into the life of my child. We have Godly, caring adults who invest in children every week. We complete a background check on every volunteer and provide training for everybody that works with children. We believe that teaching them in ways that they can understand is keeping with their spirit of Jesus and the importance he placed on children. During our first year as a church, more than ten elementary children have prayed to receive Christ during KidVenture.
As a church, we will do everything we can to help guests, new parents, and everyone else be comfortable with what happens on Sunday morning. Greeters and ushers will introduce you to the KidVenture volunteers, who will be glad to give you a tour. You can obtain a guest badge and observe your child’s class, or stay with them for the entire time. And you’re welcome to serve as a volunteer in any of the KidVenture environments.
I understand there are some that strongly believe that Sunday morning worship should be for the whole family, and I certainly respect your opinions. But there are 168 hours in the week, and there are plenty of opportunities to worship together as a family. You may not agree with this, and that's okay. But it's how we are going to operate. So beginning on August 12, children under 6th grade will not be allowed in the worship service.
Our heart is to reach everyone in Cartersville with the message of Jesus. We want to reach adults. We want to reach children. We want to reach teenagers. We want to reach college students. We want to offer adults a creative, relevant, engaging and appropriate service on Sunday mornings. And through KidVenture, we want to offer that same type of experience.
