If you go to our church, at our campus, and attend the 9:00 service – you may disregard this post. In fact, please do!
Parents, do you want your kids to feel more apart of your church service? Do you want it to feel more real for them? Do you want them to be more interested?
Move up to the front. Your kids will be able to see better. They will feel more present. You will feel more a part of the worship.
We choose the second row. Obviously you don’t want to sit in the front row. It will make you feel uncomfortably bare. Because obviously, the worship leaders or pastors may pull out their laser guns and shoot you. You need at least one pew to act as a sort of barrier or shield. But only one is required for this kind of protection. And the closer you are to the front, the greater the chance your kids won’t be directly behind some 6’4’’ hulk (like me) that will make it so they can’t read the words on the big screen.
A word on behavior: One thing that keeps people from sitting up near the front is the fear that their kids will act in a negatively impactful manner. And this will be more visible to more people if you’re up front. True.
But these are behaviors you could attend to no matter how far back you are. Attend to them. Bring the child out of the service. Administer whatever discipline you use for your kids. Then bring them back in.
Having your children enjoy and think about worship is more important than not looking bad.
You might be thinking: But Jamsco, your kids never give you problems, right? You’ve never had to deal with behavioral issues in the middle of a church service! Au Contraire. And consider this. If your children are closer to the front, they may be more interested in the service and be less distracted and less prone to act in distracting ways*.
Other Perceived Downsides:
(1) Sitting up front, you risk people thinking you think you’re a better than average family.
(2) You also risk thinking you’re a better than average family.
But read some of the passages in Proverbs about pride and humility. And think about how really good looking families on the outside are sometimes the most dysfunctional behind closed doors. Considering these things will help Downside 2 go away.
And then Downside 1 isn’t really a problem, right? If it is, find other ways to appear humble.
Worship happens in all rows of the sanctuary. But kids who can see are more likely to hear from, learn from, and participate in the worship.
*And can we recommend practicing sitting still at home? We call this “Bible Time.” My wife does this daily with our kids.
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Here is my post linking to all the posts in this “Why I do this” series of posts.
Responsible Father 