BLESSED are we for the gifts children bring us of openness, wonder, joy, and surprise without which we would be poorer.

WISE, therefore, are parents who prepare their children for worship by actively helping them develop behaviors appropriate for worship:

• To be respectful of others in the worship space
• To sing the alleluias and to keep the silences
• To share the peace and to receive the sacraments.

BLESSED are the children whose parents nurture in them a reverence for the holy encountered in each liturgy.

WISE are parents who know that learning discipleship involves discipline and, therefore, gently exercise discipline for the sake of their child’s faith formation.

BLESSED is the child who is not made the center of attention in worship and discovers the priceless joy of a mind, heart, and body centered on the Triune God. WISE are parents who recognize that ways of attending to children in other settings may be inappropriate in worship.

Actively prepare your child at home for worship by “practicing” behaviors necessary for full and reverent participation with others in worship where there are fewer individual liberties. During worship:

• Lovingly discipline (form) your child to be considerate of others
• Resist the temptation to “entertain” your child in worship because this may have unintended consequences requiring the unlearning of bad habits.
• Extend hospitality to your child by providing relief from part or all of the liturgy as needed.
• Make use of the nursery, for part or all of the liturgy, to support your child’s ongoing formation in worship participation.
• Provide, when necessary, “quiet” books or toys to complement your child’s participation in worship.

BASIC GUIDELINES FOR THE ASSEMBLY

Worship is communion with God and communion with God’s people of all ages. During worship:

• Treat children and adults alike as your sisters and brothers in Christ. We all share a common baptismal identity and, therefore, all should show one another mutual respect and dignity.
• Leave “parenting” to parents. When you witness a parent tending a restless child, show understanding, patience, and love as you return your focus to worshiping God.
• Bear any personal inconvenience with love.
• Never underestimate anyone’s capacity, including a child’s, to experience God. We cannot presume to know the degree to which a child is apprehending the holy.

BLESSED is the congregation that welcomes and affirms the special gifts that children bring to the whole assembly.

WISE, therefore, are we when we honor children and parents by remembering g to model full and attentive participation in the liturgy g to refrain from actions that stimulate a child g to lovingly engage children at appropriate times in the liturgy.

BLESSED is the congregation that practices patience and love remembering Jesus’ words when he said, “whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me.”

WISE are we when we welcome children as bearers of unsolicited grace and mercy.

BLESSED are children when the church communicates God’s unconditional love.

WISE is the church that sees in its children not only the future, but the present.