Church Disruptions: Should Children Be Allowed Into Main Hall?

Religious Leaders and Churchgoers Weigh-In on the Debate

Some churches in the United States are not admitting children into worship services in an effort to keep disruptions at a minimum as to not interrupt prayer and the pastor's message.

At South Carolina's NewSpring Church, children are not allowed to attend the worship service and the doors are even locked after the sermon starts, according to staff representatives at NewSpring.

An article published recently in Christianity Today brings to light some of the sensitive issues discussed today about limiting disruptions during church worship services.

Churches like North Carolina’s Elevation Church reportedly removed a young boy with cerebral palsy from the church service because he was disrupting the service one Sunday.

Actions like this prompt the question on whether or not children should be allowed to attend “big church?” Should churches try to minimize disruptions in services or should the entire family be allowed to attend worship?

There are two sides to this debate. To read more, click here.

Barring children from a church's worship gatherings and relegating them to 'children's church' results in children who are unable to make the transition from "children's church' to 'grown-ups' church' when they are considered old enough to join the adults. They either drop out of church or go in search of churches that offer worship experiences like those they experienced in 'children' church.' Increasingly, they are dropping out of church altogether. For the larger part of the history of the Christian Church adults and children worshiped together. Only in the last 100 years or so have they been segregated. Jesus did not turn away the children when they came to him and he rebuked his disciples when they tried to send them away. He took a child and placed the child in their midst and told them that children were his special representatives. Whoever received them received him. The Scriptures do not record Jesus meeting seperately with children but always with adults and children together. Rather than excluding children from their worship gatherings, churches need to learn how to integrate children of all ages into their worship gatherings. Worshiping with believing adults can have a profound impact upon a child.