Crying babies in church

[temporal1]

Thanks for the replies, they were about what I thought. I screenshotted them for reference and have asked the admins to delete this thread.

Would you share your thoughts on your OP questions?

[Valerie]

I prefer Hutterite/ Bruderhof meetings w no children in attendance.

Don’t let the little children come unto me?

Yes. But- if I was the mother with a child crying they are not “coming unto Jesus”. I would immediately leave the room as I think it is in consideration of those trying to listen. To me it’s rude to allow this. I’m all for children “coming unto Me” in a room that has teachings at their level if possible. Or as Jim suggested.

[MattY]

Thanks for the replies, they were about what I thought. I screenshotted them for reference and have asked the admins to delete this thread.

I don't know if this is what you intended to communicate, but the way you worded this makes it sound like you #1 started a thread with the express purpose of enticing people to respond in a certain way, #2 you've now screenshotted the evidence, and #3 now that your little game is over you want the mods to delete the thread for some reason that only you might know.

I don't think the thread should be deleted.

No, I appreciate the advice, and wanted to show it to my wife and parents; some of it we already thought of, like making sure the speakers in the nursery are working. But I was having second thoughts about whether I should have posted about this, or at least whether it should be left up permanently.

[JohnH]

Thanks for the replies, they were about what I thought. I screenshotted them for reference and have asked the admins to delete this thread.

I don't know if this is what you intended to communicate, but the way you worded this makes it sound like you #1 started a thread with the express purpose of enticing people to respond in a certain way, #2 you've now screenshotted the evidence, and #3 now that your little game is over you want the mods to delete the thread for some reason that only you might know.

I don't think the thread should be deleted.

No, I appreciate the advice, and wanted to show it to my wife and parents; some of it we already thought of, like making sure the speakers in the nursery are working. But I was having second thoughts about whether I should have posted about this, or at least whether it should be left up permanently.

I think it’s always appreciated to take a load off of a mother by holding their baby for a while, especially if she doesn’t have too many family around to help.

Particularly if there are lots of parenting experts who think they know best how to quiet such a child.

I would also suggest we put the old geezers in a nursery. We can blast the speakers, and we won’t have to hear them occasionally snoring or nodding off and distracting from the message.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Crying babies do not bother me at all. It is the absence of crying babies that would really bother me. It means a church is headed for its end, it will die and it's just a matter of preparing for the funeral.

As one that is called to the front to preach, if you cannot preach over a crying baby, you don't have very much preach in you. These were words of wisdom given to me by a former pastor.

[Judas Maccabeus]

I don't know if this is what you intended to communicate, but the way you worded this makes it sound like you #1 started a thread with the express purpose of enticing people to respond in a certain way, #2 you've now screenshotted the evidence, and #3 now that your little game is over you want the mods to delete the thread for some reason that only you might know.

I don't think the thread should be deleted.

No, I appreciate the advice, and wanted to show it to my wife and parents; some of it we already thought of, like making sure the speakers in the nursery are working. But I was having second thoughts about whether I should have posted about this, or at least whether it should be left up permanently.

I think it’s always appreciated to take a load off of a mother by holding their baby for a while, especially if she doesn’t have too many family around to help.

Particularly if there are lots of parenting experts who think they know best how to quiet such a child.

I would also suggest we put the old geezers in a nursery. We can blast the speakers, and we won’t have to hear them occasionally snoring or nodding off and distracting from the message.

There are hearing assist devices available for a reasonable price. Even though we do not have that many elderly people with hearing issues, there are some that have come to our congregation from time to time that I found them very useful. They actually work rather well.

[ken_sylvania]

Thanks for the replies, they were about what I thought. I screenshotted them for reference and have asked the admins to delete this thread.

I don't know if this is what you intended to communicate, but the way you worded this makes it sound like you #1 started a thread with the express purpose of enticing people to respond in a certain way, #2 you've now screenshotted the evidence, and #3 now that your little game is over you want the mods to delete the thread for some reason that only you might know.

I don't think the thread should be deleted.

No, I appreciate the advice, and wanted to show it to my wife and parents; some of it we already thought of, like making sure the speakers in the nursery are working. But I was having second thoughts about whether I should have posted about this, or at least whether it should be left up permanently.

Thanks for the clarification!

[Soloist]

Wife: I was actually thinking about it at church today. I heard several crying babies and noise, but usually people get up when it gets to screaming pitch and go into the other room. I don’t know if the child in question is at the younger end of 1 or at the older end.

The ironic thing is if some lady or youth girl offers to let your child sit next to them or starts to play with them, they’re suddenly little angels while she draws them pictures, shows them a book or bribes them with candy.

Toy bags are helpful (particularly toys they don’t play with during the week), and there are some older ladies or even younger unmarried that actually bring stickers along and help you entertain your children during service. I actually remember and very much appreciated that from our church in the northwest. We also enjoy the after church candy ladies (or men) that most churches we’ve been to have.

And then, if they are old enough to know better, there’s always the paddle in the nursery…

Maybe somebody could have a goodie bag they give her (and maybe other moms) that have some quiet toys. Unfortunately, that age is just a really hard stage. And some children also have completely different personalities even in the same family

[Soloist]

Thanks for the replies, they were about what I thought. I screenshotted them for reference and have asked the admins to delete this thread.

I don't know if this is what you intended to communicate, but the way you worded this makes it sound like you #1 started a thread with the express purpose of enticing people to respond in a certain way, #2 you've now screenshotted the evidence, and #3 now that your little game is over you want the mods to delete the thread for some reason that only you might know.

I don't think the thread should be deleted.

No, I appreciate the advice, and wanted to show it to my wife and parents; some of it we already thought of, like making sure the speakers in the nursery are working. But I was having second thoughts about whether I should have posted about this, or at least whether it should be left up permanently.

Wife: I was actually wondering about this too, so maybe the mods could at least figure out a way to anonymize it somewhat like mess with username or something

[JayP]

I truly wonder why some of these topics need to be explored. The proper solutions have been long worked out
Obviously, not every solution is immediately at hand at every type of church right away but…


First, we do NOT want to be like the Hutterites who do not include children in services. Jesus command is clear.

A congregation regardless of denomination should have, or work on, having a mother’s room. Lots of names for them
One should never compel people to use I. Let the parents decide.

Every church needs some ushers and even the equivalent of a female usher (whatever the title) who can politely help usher folks to the mother room. Note the word help…not command.

IAnyone who objects to mild noise, such as a baby crying gently. Background noise from a child dropping their book, etc. needs to remember that is the future