October 7, 2022
I always find it exciting for families to welcome babies at our church. Our church has been blessed this year with four healthy babies already born and my little guy is expected at the beginning of December. When to bring those sweet blessings to church is something greatly debated, and ultimately up to the parents to decide. I know there are warnings of germs and such, brought up even more since the recent pandemic; however, my husband and I feel that babies should be brought to church as soon as possible. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” We believe this training starts right from birth.
Once a baby is born, the first consideration must be the health of the mother and baby. Sometimes there are complications at birth that may require an extended hospital stay or additional time of healing at home. When mom and baby are ready, I believe it is time to head to church. When my daughter was born, she was first in the church at about a week old. I had an uncomplicated pregnancy and natural childbirth. We were both doing well and ready to get out and about. However, with my son, I took much longer to heal. An emergency C-section was necessary for his delivery. Not only was I in the hospital longer, but it took me much longer to heal and recover from his birth. It was probably about a month or so after his birth that I felt up to going anywhere. Also, due to his arrival in 2020, everything shut down just about the time I was ready to get out. So, unfortunately, for most of his first year of life church was only available virtually. With this third baby, we are hoping to be in church as soon as possible. When that is possible will be determined by how things go with his birth. I know many are concerned with germs when bringing an infant around other people; however, that is how the immune system develops. As we are exposed to germs our bodies learn to defend against them. As a bonus, if you are breastfeeding, the mother provides antibodies to her baby to help them defend against germs through her breast milk! God designed a woman’s body to nurture and protect the baby even after they are born!
I have heard people argue that it isn’t necessary to bring infants to church since they don’t know what is going on anyway. However, I believe that it is important to train your children right from the beginning. Even infants can notice that one day a week the schedule is different. They will sense that there is something special about that day. Thankfully, young infants will sleep through just about anything. When they are young their nap schedule usually isn’t interrupted by being at church. As they start to become more aware of their surroundings and what things are going on around them, it may become more difficult to get them to nap during church. However, they are then starting to notice how we worship corporately. I think a day “off schedule” is a fair trade for them to learn to love the Lord and worship Him with other believers right from the start of their life.
Can babies disrupt others from worship? Yes, that is always a possibility. The disruption is usually minimal and more disruptive to the parents than anyone else in the service. The Church should embrace a momentary cry from a baby as a happy and healthy sign for the Church. Children are the future. Obviously, if our baby is having a complete meltdown or needs to be changed, we step out of the service and care for their needs. Some women are not comfortable nursing their baby in the service, so they may step out to a separate room to feed their baby as well. Being able to care for their needs either in the service or by stepping out for a time is a way to have your baby in Church with minimal disruptions to others. Of note, your baby’s fussing is much louder and more obvious to you than to everyone else. There have been times I am sure the whole Church heard my son crying out only to learn after the service that he wasn’t heard beyond the people directly around us. If you remain calm and seek to comfort or meet the needs of your crying baby, I promise it is not as long, loud, or disruptive as it seems to be to you.
This may be a time that the parents, especially the mom, don’t “get much out of the service”. Church is not about you. It is about worshiping the Lord. It is a time to further instruct your children in the worship and teaching of the Lord. You may spend more time caring for your baby than listening to the sermon, but it is still beneficial to be there. You can benefit from the fellowship with other believers. It is a day set aside for worship, even if that includes caring for your baby and only catching bits of the sermon. Even if they don’t know what worship means, your baby will quickly learn that Sunday is different from every other day of the week. You will be teaching them the importance of worshiping God right from the start. I believe this is a valuable lesson worth teaching.