10/19/2026
Our expectation about children!
Please be advised of our parish expectations regarding children at the Divine Liturgy:
If your kids are loud, please still come to Liturgy.
If you’re running late because getting everyone dressed and out the door was a battle, please still come to Liturgy.
If your toddler won’t sit still, please still come to Liturgy.
If your baby needs to eat, please still come to Liturgy.
If your child asks questions at the least convenient moment, please still come to Liturgy.
If someone cries, drops a toy, or has to make their third trip to the bathroom, please still come to Liturgy.
If your child doesn’t know all the prayers, responses, or exactly when to sit or stand, please still come to Liturgy.
If you feel like you spent the entire Liturgy managing your children and heard approximately 12% of the homily, please still come to Liturgy.
If Sunday morning feels messy instead of peaceful, please still come to Liturgy.
If you’re worried your children are distracting the people around you, please still come to Liturgy.
If your child has a disability or special needs, please still come to Liturgy.
Children do not learn how to be part of the Church by staying home until they can sit quietly. They learn by being here.
They learn the Sign of the Cross by watching us make it.
They learn the prayers by hearing us pray them.
They learn the Scriptures by hearing the Word of God proclaimed.
They learn reverence by watching us bow and make prostrations.
They learn that Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist by seeing the love and reverence with which we approach the Holy Chalice.
They learn that the Church is their home because we make room for them here.
The wiggles, whispers, crying babies, and little voices are not signs that children don’t belong at Liturgy. They are signs that the Church is alive.
So bring the babies. Bring the toddlers. Bring the big kids. Sit where the little ones can see. Step out when you need to, but always come back in.
At Baptism and Chrismation, these children became full members of the Body of Christ. They belong here. They need the grace of the Holy Mysteries, the example of their parents, and the love and patience of their parish family.
Children are not simply the future of the Orthodox Church. They are part of the Church right now!
Taken from Saint Mary Magdeline Orthodox Church
☦️
