Kids in Church

Stef had a great question about her Kindergartner who will soon be sitting in big church with her. So, I thought I would blog my advice to her:

I do not expect our kids to sit perfectly still. However, we did talk to them about the reason for sitting as still as possible (remembering their ages) and being quiet. And the reason is so they don't distract others who may not know about Jesus from hearing what the pastor is saying. So we show love to our neighbors in church by trying to be quiet and still.

I try to keep what I bring for them to do as simple as possible just because I don't like bringing a bunch of stuff with me. I also think it's not necessary to make the church service about how many activities they get to do. So we used to bring a spiral bound notebook and crayons. They always bring a Bible and we help them look up the Bible text if they want and need help, but we don't make it an issue of something they have to do. There are times that the kids look up the Scripture and sometimes they don't.

On a side note - during Bible-time every morning I have the kids look up the Scripture we're talking about to get them used to finding things in the Bible. I also have taught them the books of the Bible and we review them often.

We bring a simple, non-crumbling, snack for them to have between SS and church and always make them go to the bathroom before.

It does take some time of adjustment to be in church for that long of a time. We role-played and practiced at home what we expected - like how to stand for singing or reading the Bible. They don't have to sing but I encourage it.

This is a personal preference, but we don't let the kids sit between us. The Lead Dog and I like to sit together. So they can sit on either side of us.

I love having them in church wth us, though, because I get to snuggle with them and love on them.

Be sure to encourage and praise them when they do participate and are quiet - even if it's with a whisper and a squeeze in the middle of the service. But don't bribe them with treats afterwards if they do well. They should be doing what is right because it's right and it honors God and others, not because they get something for it.