My husband and I attended the Christmas program here last evening. I really do not want to give this church a low rating simply because it is a Christian church . However, I think feedback is a great way to improve things.
To put it assertively:
There were so many unattended children in the balcony that we felt as though we were in a daycare where the staff had called in sick . We could not enjoy the presentation because of the small children talking , running about, rolling around and doing pushups on the edge of the balcony. We saw children carrying other children to and from the bathroom numerous times.
A group of preteens and teens sat together and whispered and ate candy which is fine but it appeared as though a couple of the teens were to be monitoring younger kids. A teen girl tried to talk a young boy into sitting down and getting out of the way of others in the aisle but he did not obey her. This is inappropriate because it is a parents job to attend to their children.
The parents who were with their kids were ineffective . A young girl around age 5 had her feet in the pew and was constantly spinning around and her mom played with her during the entire presentation . Near the end the mom appeared angry and grabbed the girl while snatching away a scarf she twirled in the air. How confusing for the little girl. So it the misbehavior not okay after an hour of acting out ?
Directly beside us a lady had a baby around 10 months old. The little girl appeared miserable and constantly tried to pick at my husband and pull away to get on the floor.
Two more adults had 4 kids who constantly stood up and sat down . These kids were 11 to 13 years old and had the babies on their hips while standing up and down and walking to and from the bathroom repeatedly. If the kids had to urinate that frequently the parents should take them to a physician to get treatment.
Backing up a bit here - My husband and I love kids and love to see kids serving others. However, when we arrived to enter the church a young boy was not attentive to us and we had to ask for a program which he held in his hands . We got no welcome or attention as a greeting .
Once inside the church we wanted to sit on a pew with 3 others people. We asked if we could sit on the same pew and a couple around age mid 60 would not answer us so I repeated my request again and they still only looked and each other. The man finally shrugged his shoulders as to imply "I don't know can you sit here?" I asked again if they could slide down the pew and they did so slowly . We sat for a second but felt unwelcome so we made a worse decision to sit in the balcony.
People were eating and drinking throughout the presentation . Are we such a fat society that we can not go an hour without food or drink ? Where is the reverence ? We felt like we were at the Bell Auditorium not a church.
The preacher spoke for a short time to welcome guests . We were disappointed that he did not actually have an altar call . He spoke about the gift of salvation being for everyone not just us in the Bible belt. This is so true but why didn't he use the perfect opportunity to invite the lost to accept Christ and offer to meet them or talk . This is an especially sad time for many who are feeling hopeless and alone . What a missed opportunity. We have heard great things about this preacher so hopefully he just missed it a bit . We will visit again to hear him preach as we have heard he does not water down the gospel.
The music was beautiful and the presentation would have been great if we could have heard it without unnecessary distractions. I hope the leadership at this church is able to recognize how Satan is causing disruption .
I have worked dealing with dysfunctional families and children with behavioral problems for many years. It is evident that these unruly children have not been taught boundaries and listening skills at home. Many of the children were too young to be able to attend or even sit for this amount of time. It is not fair to the children to have them endure a presentation which is not appropriate for their age level. They were not interested in the scripted play or the music . This is unfair to those wanting to enjoy the musical. They should have hired a baby sitter and left the kids at home. Children's church or the church nursery might be an option for day services but obviously not for this series. Most importantly , children should not be responsible for other children. Remember what happened to Joseph as he was sold into slavery by his brothers ! read more
