Whenever I attend church with my family, our toddler, always tries to get on to the platform, take the microphone from the speaker and preach. It seems to be his one true ambition. The moment his feet touch the ground, he makes a dash for the pulpit.
Hmmm… It’s easier to get a leach off your skin than to pluck the little man from off the platform. He will run to one corner, run back to the other one, laughing at the top of his voice. He definitely is having a great time. All these, and the sermon is suspended. The preacher tries to be as comely as possible. His preaching clock is tickling down. A reasonable amount of pressure is mounting below his skin.
Meanwhile, the little boy is still running helter skelter upon the platform. Finally I get hold of him. He tries to wiggle out of my grip. He lies flat on the floor in total rebellion. Then he rolls over and over and over again. Making it difficult for me to pick him up. By now, I am sweating from every single pore on my skin, frustrated by a child and utterly embarrassed for disrupting the sermon…
The boy is definately having a blast! I am not! Phew! I get him at last and whisper a quick prayer. At this point, I definitely need divine intervention. “Dear God I hope he doesn’t wiggle out of my grip again.”
I tighten my grip around his tiny waist as I scoop him up firmly. He realizes that he has lost. Yet, he still gives one last fight. He opens up his giant pair of lungs and lets out the loudest and the most aggravating scream of defiance, in the history of tantrums. I lift him up to my shoulders as he kicks, shoves, pulls and pushes. The boy will make a very strong man someday. He wants to be free. Free to preach and play on the pulpit. The apple doesn’t fall far from it’s tree, haloooo….????
I try not to look directly at the judgemental congregation. I set my eyes slightly above their heads. Even though, I still feel those piercing stares peeling off my skin. The disapproving looks. Sighs of relief. Whispered muttering… I could even hear in my ear’s ear, someone asking me; “don’t you discipline him well enough?” It’s not always an issue of discipline, dear congregation. Sometimes it’s just about personality and determination.
As a parent, I find that so many churches do not even begin to understand the importance and the value of having a properly functioning children’s ministry.
The absence of which means that parents to young children have to miss every single sermon as they tend to their little ones.
It surprises me when I find a whole Sunday school teacher standing in front of a room preaching to toddlers who are just only beginning to speak. “Baba… Mama…” She would even end the class by giving them memory verses. Yeah!
Eih…
Is it that serious??
Wouldn’t it be more useful to sing songs and play with them, show them how to share, to be kind, no fighting… Etc?
I am that mom who is always peeping through the window to see if my kids are having a great time at Sunday school. I ask questions, and they know I mean business. If it wasn’t a great experience, we don’t go back. Ever!
I will not put my children through the torture of attending a boring and dull Sunday school that does not impact their lives positively. If anything, it serves to give them a negative opinion. My children will be seen playing at church. To them, church is more about fellowship with other believing children.
What our son loves the most, is playing with his church friends. He understands that prayer is a way of life. It’s not something you go to do at a church. Daily, he learns about his spiritual walk. It’s not something that happens only on Sundays.
I am that mom who sits in the baby nursery with her toddler, so that the preacher can preach in peace. Sometimes there is no screen to follow the sermon in there. So I go back home wondering whether it was worth it, to change babysitting locations? I could have been better off, watching the live stream at home, rather than from my phone within the compound from where its being preached at. When I don’t have internet bundles, I just get sweet fellowship with my church friends and go home. That’s the main reason why I go to church. Makes it worth the trouble.
I appreciate a functional children’s ministry that caters to the special needs of children. Their short attention span, their need for a million breaks, playing, singing, dancing, animated story telling…
I have seen the benefit of Sunday school when it is done properly. I have also seen the repercussions of Sunday school when it is done poorly.
I say this in humility; if you are a Sunday school teacher who is ill equipped to run a class; do not be lazy at the expense of the children. Children are the future of the church. You handle them poorly when they are young, the church loses them when they are older.
Do not go teaching Sunday school as a by- the -way. If you don’t have a call and a passion for kids, just find another area of servitude. Period.
There is too much at stake.
As a parent, I know what my responsibilities are towards my children and to God. I will not delegate their spirituality to haphazardness.
And… That is why I say, it is never that serious.
Sunday school is not the only place where my children learn about God. They don’t have to go and endure a torturous session. I won’t allow them to go if they don’t want to.
I will attend a church where my children enjoy the children’s ministry. They get positively influenced while having a good time. It’s them, we are raising. We have many ways and avenues for getting our own spiritual nourishment as adults.
Some preachers are heaven sent. They speak straight to the heart. Oh bless them! Preaching is a tough call. I understand that, not everyone who preaches is called to preach. It’s definately, not everyone’s cup of tea. People have different motivations for picking up the cloth.
I can endure a boring, shouting, rampant, angry, manipulative, an all over the place preacher and still find a blessing in their somewhere. Believe me, the word of God goes out and never returns to Him void. Again, God doesn’t choose a vessel. He will use anything available to Him. He will even use a stone if he must. Figure that…
There is always a blessing somewhere if you really look hard. Even if it’s just a phrase.
My kids haven’t developed such sorting skills yet. They can’t sit through a straight 7hour sermon for example. Not even a straight 5hour sermon. No matter hour wonderful and heavily annointed the message is. Two hours is just at their extreme limit. By that time, they get fidgety. They want a break to snack or to play… They won’t pay attention.
It’s not about discipline. Kids are just kids. They are in that space where we all grew out of. We can’t neglect their needs and then accuse them of indiscipline.
Nereall 