Children in Worship
Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me
Because we believe that the liturgical worship service is the summoning of the LORD God to His people to gather before Him, we welcome our children into the liturgical service of worship. We recognize that coming before the LORD in holy worship, and full participation in the work of liturgy, is a baptismal right belonging to all who are members of His holy Church.
We are fully aware that small children often make noise but we are not put off by it. We should always be fearful of falling into the same trap the disciples did when handling the children that drew near to our Lord Jesus. They rebuked those who had brought their little children to the Lord Jesus and tried to hurry them away, as being intrusions or distractions upon the Lord’s time and work. Jesus, on the other hand, rebuked them for such an attitude and declared, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).
While we would ask parents to be sensitive to those around them, we are all to maintain a high tolerance for the presence of children in our worship service.
We would also encourage each parent to train (instruct, model, discipline) your children as to the proper conduct within the liturgical service. This not only involves training them to not make excessive noise but also training them to be actively engaged in the worship of the Lord as much as possible. We have seen that even pre-literate children can quickly be taught how to participate. They hear and see the various components of our liturgy repeated week after week and rapidly learn when to sit, when to stand, raise their hands, and shout Amen.
Therefore, if your child causes a bit of commotion, don’t be embarrassed and feel the compulsion to immediately take them out of the service. Rather, take the time to correct them with instructions. If you need, take them out of the service and instruct them or discipline them in an appropriate manner, and then bring them back into the service.
We gladly welcome your children, even as our Lord Jesus does.
Because we believe that the liturgical worship service is the summoning of the LORD God to His people to gather before Him, we welcome our children into the liturgical service of worship. We recognize that coming before the LORD in holy worship, and full participation in the work of liturgy, is a baptismal right belonging to all who are members of His holy Church.
We are fully aware that small children often make noise but we are not put off by it. We should always be fearful of falling into the same trap the disciples did when handling the children that drew near to our Lord Jesus. They rebuked those who had brought their little children to the Lord Jesus and tried to hurry them away, as being intrusions or distractions upon the Lord’s time and work. Jesus, on the other hand, rebuked them for such an attitude and declared, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).
While we would ask parents to be sensitive to those around them, we are all to maintain a high tolerance for the presence of children in our worship service.
We would also encourage each parent to train (instruct, model, discipline) your children as to the proper conduct within the liturgical service. This not only involves training them to not make excessive noise but also training them to be actively engaged in the worship of the Lord as much as possible. We have seen that even pre-literate children can quickly be taught how to participate. They hear and see the various components of our liturgy repeated week after week and rapidly learn when to sit, when to stand, raise their hands, and shout Amen.
Therefore, if your child causes a bit of commotion, don’t be embarrassed and feel the compulsion to immediately take them out of the service. Rather, take the time to correct them with instructions. If you need, take them out of the service and instruct them or discipline them in an appropriate manner, and then bring them back into the service.
We gladly welcome your children, even as our Lord Jesus does.