Do you seperate Bus kids from others?

We should be thankful for that.
I don't see any reason to turn away visitors unless they are disruptive.
But evangelism is NOT the Biblical pattern and purpose for church, for the worship service.

But experience is not what makes something proper or improper.

Do you believe a lost person should be allowed to be a church member?

 

If I was a betting person, I would bet that we have a lot of those on the church roll already...

 

One could justify a lot of things on that basis.

 

How does bringing kids to church need justified?

I am not real big on bus ministry, but one would be hard pressed to find a Bible reason to criticise it.

 

We can get in lots of debates about whether the purpose of the church is discipleship or evangelism. IMHO it is both. When we are teaching we are leading folks to deeper understanding and sometimes that is to the place of salvation.

AND as Sue said, there are most likely tons of folks on the roles thinking they are saved who in reality aren't. It's hard to tell sometimes. If getting kids in the door means we can tell them about Christ, when we have a hard time telling them outside the doors, then lets get them inside.

 

Not criticizing bus ministry (although I'm not a fan of them), I was suggesting that perhaps we be careful about saying something is worth it simply because a few people came to God because of it. Lots of things are done that aren't necessarily the best thing to do, or even the right thing to do, that can still result in a few grateful people.

(To be clear, not criticizing the writer I was quoting. Their heart was in the right place.)

 

Fair point, thanks for clarifying

 

The fact is, if we are going to DO a ministry, we need to make sure we DO it right and in good order -- that it is properly funded, has enough workers, is prayed over, under, during, before and after. We do not need to start it and realize it is inconvenient or a bother which seemed to be the message in the OP. We certainly don't want those we bring in to feel like they are second class in anyway or unwanted. We want them to feel apart and loved.

 

That sounds a lot like many of the children who attend, or have attended our Bible Club for children, though none of them come by bus.

 

Well, my pastor preaches expositionally. He just recently finished preaching through the book of Luke and has taken a break to preach some topical sermons. That series through Luke took almost 10 years. He doesn't spend an hour expounding on one verse, I was being a little facetious. He will touch on many verses. But he does rarely preach less than 45 minutes, his record is probably around an hour and a half.

I'm sure that if you were to go back through historical records, you would find that long sermons were the norm in times past, even longer than what we have at my church. Once you get used to it, it really isn't a big deal. But it is difficult to get a child who is raised on a diet of refined sugar and television to see it that way.