I haven't posted in a long time. The reason.....there are many....but mainly because I've been trying to think through what I want to say in this post and I'm still not sure. Over a month and a half ago we instituted some policies within our church based on recommendations made by the denomination for the safety of our children. Our Sunday School board had been discussing it for quite some time. The recommendations come from a program called Nazarene Safe (please correct me if I mess up any information here in regards to this. I am not an expert).
Our new policies have created quite a stir and some mild disagreement. You see, we aren't a big church. We don't have a ton of children walking through our doors each Sunday. We don't even have enough young, able bodied people to work with the kids we have and these new policies ask that we have more people and more eyes on our kids. This has been stressful. The kids are complaining that they have to be watched all the time. Parents are complaining that they have to watch their kids and sign their kids in and out. We still don't have enough workers.
I've been struggling a lot with this and why safety is important from a Christian standpoint. I know, personally, why I feel it is important here. I have been caught in the middle of watching children who are not my own (while watching my own) before church and had accidents/issues/arguments/inappropriate behavior, and I have been the only one around to deal with these situations. I will not dive into any details but I have observed that allowing kids to just go where ever they want before and after church has not been beneficial and is not exactly safe for the kids, let alone embodying the nature of Christ.
On the other side of the argument, I remember as a kid, we would arrive at church and my friends and I would go all over the building playing all sorts of games and doing all sorts of stuff. We were never destructive, that I can remember, and we knew to walk (around adults anyway ;)). It was a huge part of my growing up in church. I knew that building like I knew my own home. So there is a part of me that understands the distress that comes with saying this will no longer be allowed.
However, I have seen how unhealthy this practice has been for our kids. I remember how often we talked in the school I taught at about the culture of kids today and how it is different from when we were kids and we need to grow and adapt our teaching style and even behavior management to what is effective to today's kids. I feel the same applies to church. The things taking place before church were not Christ-like behaviors. Children were tearing each other down, they were yelling, running, not paying attention to their surroundings or others creating an unsafe environment. I'm not saying this because I think the kids are bad. They are good kids but they need guidance on how to solve problems in a mature and Christ-like way.
I believe that more eyes on our kids will actually create a better atmosphere for them. There will be more opportunities to influence their lives in such a way. Think about it, we only see them for 2 hours tops A WEEK. Everything else is outside influence. Why shouldn't we be more intentional about making sure our kids have our undivided attention at church and that they are safe and cared for? Why shouldn't we be available to help them in real life problem solving situations with one another so they can go out into the world and do the same?
We have some AWESOME kids! So what if we don't have dozens upon dozens? The few we have are really seeking to know Jesus and I'll take a few seriously seeking Christ over dozens just coming because they have to or want a special prize or just because it is "fun and exciting" any day! And I will do anything I can to make sure they are safe and loved!
I am open to conversation about this. It is something we are struggling to implement and would like to hear how others are working toward this as well.
http://www.nazarenesafe.org/
