On Sundays at St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church
On Sundays from 9:00 am-3:00 pm, St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church is often busy. The church becomes filled by the congregation which comes from different corners of the United States. Sometimes, visitors travel from other parts of the globe to tour this holy place with the aim of engaging in spiritual matters. Nevertheless, toddlers are always a nuisance in at St. Francis Xavier as the concept of devotion seems less significant to them as they still cause disruptions.
Negligence of Some Parents
Although the church provides service care for children throughout the year, some guardians do not bring their children to be taught on how to behave during the time of devotion. Most of the parent's negligence is what has triggered many Catholic followers at St. Francis to dislike the confusion that occurs during worship (Barth 86). Also, the excitement is ironical because most of the parents tend to ignore the unnecessary noise produced by their kids. However, the multitude at the church prefers parents to feed well their kids at home before they attend Sunday services. Also, it is a concern of everyone that guardians find an effective method of calming their teens in the church.
Easter Sunday Chaos
On the Sunday of Easter, the congregation had doubled the usual number that attends regular church services. Surprisingly, a state of confusion was observed on such a remarkable day of the Catholic's calendar. It all started when the priest entered the church, which is a time that all people pay attention to the preaching. At this point, two young boys of about three and four years were heard shouting the names of their parents. Due to limited seats on that morning, their guardians were standing outside the chapel while the two kids had sneaked into the church, a situation that brought the reading to a standstill as all people had shifted their focus to the boys. On another occurrence, a young lady marched towards the altar to receive a holy Eucharist while she was carrying a kid who was half naked beside cries. It is likely that the noise from the baby was triggered by or other related discomforts. The congregation again turned its focus towards the baby instead of concentrating on taking the Eucharist.
Training Toddlers on Church Etiquette
In an article Adoption and Disruption: Rates, risks, and responses, Barth and Richard recommend that toddlers should be allowed be trained on matters of the church at an early stage. Also, they should be accompanied by individuals who would be necessary for controlling them during the service (Denton and Culver 226). Differentiation in times of worship between children and parents has to be exercised. Nonetheless, the idea of separating children and parents during prayer may result in moral decadence since no one will guide them.
Policies and Counseling
Although children have been praised in the Bible as gifts and innocent creatures, St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church and other parishes should come up with policies regarding children behavior in the church. If all parents agree to take their children to Sunday schools, cases of disruptions in the church will be minimal ("When Children Disrupt the Sunday Service - The High Calling - Theology of Work"). Children will be taught moral values and church conduct during prayers. Furthermore, it is advisable for the parents to counsel their children on how to behave while they are in the parish (Moon). All in all, volunteers should come up with a program that takes care of naughty kids. The efforts will eventually create a contusive environment in the church.
Works Cited
Barth, Richard P., ed. Adoption and Disruption: Rates, Risks, and Responses. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge, 2017.
Denton, Melinda Lundquist, and Julian Culver. "Family Disruption and Racial Variation in Adolescent and Emerging Adult Religiosity." Sociology of Religion, no. 76.2, 2015, pp. 222-239.
Moon, Ruth. “Should. Churches try to Minimize Worship Disruptions?". Christianitytoday.Com, 2018, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/september/discussion-church-disruptions.html. Accessed 15 Apr 2018.
"When Children Disrupt the Sunday Service - The High Calling - Theology of Work." Theologyofwork.Org, 2018, https://www.theologyofwork.org/the-high-calling/when-children-disrupt-sunday-service/when-children-disrupt-sunday-service. Accessed 15 Apr 2018.
