tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post2465598006553079247..comments2023-09-03T10:27:50.770-05:00Comments on Personal Musings of Priestly Goth: Children in Worship and the nature of the LiturgyCommunity of the Holy Trinityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15327079170088324442noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-82695206894167550962010-05-13T17:16:57.135-05:002010-05-13T17:16:57.135-05:00While some Orthodox parishes segregate out the chi...While some Orthodox parishes segregate out the children during the Liturgy of the Word (or the Catechumens), brining them in for the Liturgy of the Sacrament (or the Faithful), it has been my limited experience in all the parishes I've attended that the children are there for the entirety of the Liturgy. This is true at All Saints. From newest churched infant to teens.<br /><br />It may be due to the different anthropology that Orthodoxy has relative to the general tendencies in non-Orthodox churches. The Orthodox worship is inclusive of all the senses and mind and heart. I would not call the services irrational or anti-rational, but verbal catechesis is about twenty minutes in the homily, the rest is experienced in song, incense, color, touch, and so forth.<br /><br />Yes, my girls get restless and "bored" at points through the service (which on a "normal" Sunday is about two hours). And no they don't "capture" everything rationally. No one does, and that's not the point.<br /><br />Orthodoxy just has a different focus when it comes to worship, and I think that is what makes it conducive to children's participation.<br /><br />(I sincerely apologize for any "triumphalistic" tone here. Please read the tone as one of "pleasant surprise." I would never have thought this would be how my children would "adapt" to Orthodox worship.)Benedict Seraphimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02129279614956377442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-21352874932159259682010-05-13T15:39:49.277-05:002010-05-13T15:39:49.277-05:00that is helpful to know the context. You might ch...that is helpful to know the context. You might chat with Gordon Atkinson at Real Live Preacher on what they do at his church, even though he's not pastor there anymore. They seem to have a similar approach to what you're thinking.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03725866313345494206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-4881642677112764542010-05-13T15:30:46.885-05:002010-05-13T15:30:46.885-05:00Laura, that is a good question. In terms of this ...Laura, that is a good question. In terms of this reflection and the resources I have been consulting as far as I could tell the assumption is all ages, though in terms of what they actually suggest mostly grade school and up.<br /><br />In terms of Reconciler and what we have decided to do: our 4 children are all under 6 years of age. So, yes issues with sitting still during service. We however have some movement in the service and we don't have pews. Our space is fairly flexible in terms of how we arrange things.<br /><br />It is probably useful to know given your question that at Reconciler what has lead to attempting to include very young children who may not be able to sit still or be quiet for the whole service is that we are small enough that providing children's Sunday school during and child care during our service was proving difficult to staff every week.<br /><br />We'll see how it goes. It may mean that every several services we simply have a chaotic service that some people may not be comfortable with. My hope is that given that our space is flexible, that we don't have pews and so a child needn't simply sit still and that we don't simply stay in one place in our liturgy.<br />But then I am influenced by the idea that pews and even chairs were a bad innovation in our liturgical practice and providing seating for those who can't stand and allowing people and children to wander about a worship space during the liturgy is appropriate, and to return tot he sense that a posture of prayer is standing. Though Reconciler isn't completely with me on this so we still do have seating for everyone. just not pews.<br /><br />In anycase my hope is that designating some Sundays as times when children will take part in the worship that others will be more accepting of children who aren't sitting still, also my hope is that our not having pews and that we move about the space already will make children possibly wandering about less distracting and seem more naturally a part of our worship. We'll see how it goes. And we'll see how our parents who are the ones who helped me think up some of this will feel. Admittedly having young children in a service is a challenge especially if worship means sitting still and being silent, which isn't my expectation though still is many peoples.<br /><br />At Reconciler we have all our children brought into the service for communion, We have taken to calling it "Jesus bread" at Reconciler.Community of the Holy Trinityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15327079170088324442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8605839.post-30986383784482263922010-05-13T11:16:41.286-05:002010-05-13T11:16:41.286-05:00I guess one question for you is what age you are t...I guess one question for you is what age you are thinking of when you want to include "children." This has been a challenge for us so far. I am really looking forward to Will getting old enough to participate in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, because it seems the best resource for helping children participate meaningfully in worship. But right now Will just can't sit still during the service, which puts the strain on us as parents not to disturb our pew mates (even in the most child-inclusive of congregations, the glances as your child squirms and chatters are too intimidating for most parents to handle and we end up slinking out the back). So we have him come in to receive communion, which we call "God's Special Food," but it is so disconnected from the rest of the liturgy that I don't know how much of a worship experience it can be for him. At home we do "Thank you God" before dinner, and he really likes that, and clearly has made it into a liturgy for himself, saying thanks for the same things in the same order each day.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03725866313345494206noreply@blogger.com