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MATTHEW G. SOLOVEY EDITOR GREATER NATICOKE LEADERI
Wednesday, January 26, 2000 Page: 2
It seems that every few months a debate rages in the SAYSO column. Without
fail a caller will express disgust that a crying baby interuppted church
service. The debate usually wages for a week or so, with callers from both
sides of the issue expressing their opinions. The issue started again a little
over a week ago. Thankfully the response hasnt been as great as in the past,
but it still amazes me that its even discussed. First of all, as many of you
know, my wife and I have a baby. But my opinion on this subject was the same
before Jayden was born: babies belong in church. Dont get me wrong, babies who
are crying should be taken to a discreet section of the church until they calm
down. Otherwise, the more babies the better. Why? Simple. Babies, and more
importantly, families are the backbone and future of any parish. WIthout new
blood, church memberships will decline. Families need to feel welcome and that
means accomodating babies. Babies are the future Sunday school students, the
future youth group members, and ulitmately the future members. I read one
SAYSO comment that said mothers should stay home with their babies. I see,
mothers are not worthy to worship with the rest of us. What kind of attitude
is that? I was a bit worried when we first took Jayden to our church. While I
know many of our parishioners, I just wasnt sure how people would react. When
they werent fussing over Jayden, they were complimenting us. Thats good. Start
her when shes young. Shell feel at home here, one parishioner told us. This is
where she belongs. Get her used to coming to church, another said. Our church
has quite a few babies. Like most babies, they make noise. We hear them goo or
ga during the service. As far as Im concerned its music to my ears. Not only
do we have other parents to talk to, Jayden will have peers who will be raised
with the same faith as she. For the more rambunctious babies our church offers
a nursery (which, incidentally has a speaker so the adult supervisors can take
part in the service), which shows me that families are important. We need to
welcome mothers, fathers and their babies into our churches. We need to find
ways to attract them to our parishes. If we dont make them feel welcome,
theyll just go somewhere else or even worse, not go to church at all.