pilgrim people

In the past four years, I have heard some funny names used for the cry-room in our church building, names such as, “the penalty box,” “romper room,” and “the torture chamber.” My favorite, however, is “purgatory.” Like the Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory, the cry-room is a place where souls suffer until they are ready to enter into God’s presence and the assembly of the saints!

While the doctrine of purgatory is false, the potential suffering of those using the cry-room is a reality. Any parent who has spent numerous Sunday mornings worshiping in the cry-room with their infant or toddler can tell you about the challenges. It can be noisy. It can be crazy. It can feel like purgatory…but without the flames!

I sympathize, therefore, with parents who, at times, may feel discouraged and perhaps frustrated with life in the cry-room. As a pastor of souls, I do not want my parishioners to feel disheartened about attending the means of grace. For this reason, I hope to encourage parents, who, with their little ones, make their way to the cry-room each Lord’s Day. I also want to encourage everyone in our congregation to be supportive of those with young children in our covenant community.

A Place for Training

While we typically call it a “cry” room, it may be more appropriate to describe it as a training room. As parents, we have the responsibility to teach our children the meaning and importance of the worship service. As baptized members of the covenant of grace, our children belong in the worship service with us. They are to grow up learning and singing the songs of Zion, confessing the creeds of Christ’s church, and praying the Lord’s Prayer. Most importantly, they are to grow up hearing God speak to his people through the preaching of the Gospel. In the worship service each Lord’s Day, God condescends to us to announce his promises and renew his covenant. It is in this divine act, which is unlike anything else we experience in this life, that God ushers us into his heavenly presence so that we might receive from his open hand (Heb 12.18-29)… and he ushers our children with us!

While the cry-room might seem inconvenient to us at times, we must realize that theology, not convenience, informs our worship! We must begin, therefore, with the covenant of grace. God makes his covenant not only with those adults who can make a credible profession of faith in Christ alone, but also with the children of believers, who cannot yet make such a profession. Throughout redemptive history, God has included the children of believers into his visible covenant community. Baptized children, therefore, are entitled to the worship service as much as their parents are. That is where they belong!

The cry-room, then, provides a place for training our little ones. It is far more in line with our theology than a nursery-room. While many Reformed and Presbyterian churches designate a classroom as a nursery, they often do so because their building is not equipped with a cry-room. We, however, have been blessed with a large room that is more conducive for training that a nursery. In a nursery-room, baptized children are, in most cases, dropped off by their parents and completely removed from the assembly of God’s people. When this happens, these precious heirs of the covenant are denied exposure to and training in the vital act of corporate worship. In a nursery-room, infants and toddlers are deprived of the opportunity of hearing mommy or daddy confess their sins, sing the doxology, confess the creed, pray the Lord’s prayer, and partake of communion. In the cry-room, parents are preparing their children to become active participants in the worship service.

A Place for Transition

The goal of our training and preparation is to graduate our children to the main auditorium (i.e. “sanctuary”). The cry-room, therefore, is a place of transition. As our infants grow into toddlers, parents can begin making excursions into the service with their children. Explain to your little one ahead of time what you plan to do. Proactive preparation is the key here! Explain to them on Saturday night, and again on Sunday morning before worship, that they have the opportunity to sit with the congregation for part of the service.

I have found that many children become very excited about this. Estimate how much of the service you think your little one can handle, have a plan, and give it a shot. If they begin to squeal and shriek (sounds that God's people have been accustomed to since the days of Israel), you can always take them back to the cry-room. At first, they may only be able to sit still up to the first hymn. In time, however, it may be to the song of preparation before the sermon. Eventually, with training and perseverance, children will make the transition into sitting through the whole service.

This is transition, however, does not end once our little ones learn to sit quietly. The goal is not merely for our children to behave in worship. The goal is for them to become mature worshipers and active listeners, who eagerly receive from God in Word and sacrament, and respond to God in song, prayer, and giving. This, of course, is a lifelong process.

Yes, it requires work. There is no plenary indulgence offered to families so that they can spring a suffering soul from the purgatory of the cry-room! Rather, it takes a lot of planning, effort, and perseverance to make the transition. But the transition can be made; it is not impossible. And the cry-room helps to that end.

A Place that is Temporary

The Word of God endures forever, but the cry-room does not! It is only for a season. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, for a family with several small children, that light might seem rather dim at times; when one child finally graduates to the main auditorium, another is born! With the joy of a child’s birth can come the potentially gloomy prospect of spending more years in the cry-room. Nevertheless, the cry-room is not forever. Like all parental responsibilities, training our children in the cry-room is only for a season. Eventually, this too shall pass.

In the meantime, some parents may find it helpful to trade off services with their spouse. If mom trains the baby in the morning service, then perhaps dad can do the same in the evening service, allowing mom to be freed up to receive the means of grace without distraction. This is yet another good reason for having two services on the Lord’s Day!

It is only for a short period that we have the opportunity to train our children in the instruction and discipline of the Lord. May we be faithful stewards and wisely use the time we have been given. And may we encourage one another in our congregation as we see parents engaging in the hard and sometimes frustrating work of training and preparing these little heirs of the covenant. May we be patient with one another and pray for each other, asking the Lord of the covenant to bear much fruit in these children of the promise.