Children in Worship 

Relax!  Your family is important here! 

• It is hard for children to sit still for long.  They have short attention spans, but they will absorb bits and pieces of the worship service.
   
• Growing up isn't easy in any family, but especially in God's family -- it is well worth the effort.
   
• If desired, seating for parents with infants is provided in the Quiet Room.  An usher will be happy to assist you.

A Word about the Sacraments

• Baptism of infants is recommended ordinarily during the first eighteen months.  Parents desiring baptism for their children should consult with the pastor several weeks in advance.  When baptism is part of a service of worship, all children are invited to come close and observe the ceremony.
   
• Communion is a family event in the household of faith.  Baptized children may partake with their parents.  However, some parents may wish to wait until children are confirmed before they receive communion.  We leave this choice to the family.  The pastor is available for consultation.  It is important to let children know God loves them and that we are all God's family.  Children do not need to "understand" in order to partake.  Do any of us understand fully what God has done for us through Jesus Christ?

Parents

• Try to come early to get settled and, if possible, sit near the front.  Children who can see what is happening feel more involved.
   
• Introduce yourself and your children to the people sitting nearby.
   
• Review the order of worship and help children find the hymns, scriptures and prayers then mark them.  Children's packs with bulletins and crayons are available at the back of the Sanctuary.
   
• Share the hymnal, Bible and bulletin with the child at his/her eye level.  Line the works with your finger for younger readers and even for non-readers who can pick out repetitive words.
   
• At the Children's Chat, come forward with young or unsure children.  Following that, they may go out the side door to "Children's Time" or return to the pew.
   
• Talk about worship at home.  Look for opportunities to relate the sermon or scripture lessons to something that is happening.
   
• Allow children to write their own names on the friendship pad.  (So what if they take 3 lines!)
   
• Children learn "worship etiquette" by participation.  Fell free to whisper instructions to help them learn.

Congregation

• Remember the promises we make at the baptism of the children among us.
   
• Greet children as well as adults, and be as intentional about knowing children's names as you are about adults'.
   
• Hand them the offering plate rather than passing it over their heads.
   
• Pass friendship pads to children.
   
• See that a child has a children's bulletin.
   
• When children give visible leadership, respond to them as worship leaders -- not as performers.
   
• Always laugh with children, not at them.
   
• Occasionally invite a child you know to sit with you during worship.
   
• Understand when parents need to take younger ones out and then return during worship.
   
• Be patient with the learning process; we are all children of God!