That is so much baloney. No one said there was a right to use the nursery. You have no right to dictate a linkage between service of the parent and care of the child. I am shocked your local church puts up with that. The policy is ill conceived, divisive, and has no place in a Christian setting. On top of that, you have no right to dictate who is called to do what ministry. That is between them and the Lord.
Forced to serve?
Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Jereynolds, Aug 31, 2012.
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Some of the "needs" of the church, like nursery workers or Jr. Church teachers aren't true "needs," they are preferences. When our church didn't have enough Jr. Church workers, my dh decided to do away with Jr. Church rather than force people to teach. The kids now sit through morning worship and they've learned to be quiet and listen. The church didn't fall apart at the seams for lack of Jr. Church. If, in the future, someone feels convicted and wants to teach, we may have it again.
But. . .The church will not stop for lack of an usher or pianist or Sunday School teacher. They didn't even have those roles back in Christ's day. -
The title of this thread is misleading as nobody puts a gun to your head and forces you to join a church. -
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"Now, Martha would have Mary made to serve Christ. What right has she to be sitting down there? Whether she likes it or not, she must get up and wait like her sister. Martha’s voluntary desire to do much leads her to think that Mary, if she has not quite such a voluntary love for the work, must be driven to it—must have a sharp word from Christ about it. So it is with us. We are so willing to contribute to the Lord’s work that we wish we had ten thousand times as much to give. Our heart is warm within us, and we feel we would make no reserve—and then are so grieved with others because they give so very little that we wish we could compel them to give!
And so we would put their cankered money into the same treasury with the bright freewill offerings of the saints, as if the Lord would receive such beggarly pittances squeezed out by force in the same manner as He accepts the voluntary gifts of His people! It were wiser if we left those unwilling contributions to rust in the pockets of their owners. For in the long run I believe they do not help the cause—only that which is given out of a generous spirit, and out of love to Christ—will come up accepted before Him. Too readily do we get away from the free spirit when we get away from the right spirit. The fact is, the Martha spirit spoils all, because it gets us away from the inner soul of service, as I have said before, to the mere husks of service." —Charles Spurgeon, "Martha and Mary" -
If a church decided that members must give x dollars per week to worship, would that be acceptable? If a church decided that the only ones who could eat at a fellowship meal are those who wash dishes afterwards, would that be acceptable? Or, only those who vacuum/mop the area can sit in the pews?
Being an oldtimer, I grew up in a church without "modern conveniences" of a nursery and Children's Church during worship services. Except for Sunday School classes for those old enough to attend, children stayed with their parents.
If there are not enough volunteers, who freely give of either/or their time and money for a particular church activity/ministry, then it should be discontinued. Is there anything in the scriptures that specifices that a nursery and a special children's service be included as a part of worship of our Lord?
13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.
14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. -
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I just had a thought. Perhaps the church in the OP has been taken advantage of in the past, and has established some rigid rules to eliminate that?
For example, in several churches we've attended, there were some freeloaders who made sure to come to every dinner, eat like pigs, take home leftovers and unopened bottles of pop, yet they didn't contribute, or they contributed VERY little food. I know of one family of 8 (4 of which were hungry teenagers) who routinely bring a plate of cookies and then do the "all you can eat" in order to "save on their food bill." (Yes, exact words said when asked to bring more food.)
The church ladies got ticked and started passing around sign-up sheets, specifying that everyone needed to bring enough food to serve a certain number of people. They didn't say you couldn't come if you didn't bring a dish, but they strongly encouraged people to bring enough to feed their own families.
It may be that people in the OP's church have experienced something like this in the children's departments, so they went overboard to correct it. That doesn't mean I agree with it, but I can see that being a reason why a church might do this. -
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Thank God for churches that require participation like this. If only those who "feel called" (whatever that means) worked with the children, they wouldn't be "fed" 46 out of 52 weeks. -
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Typical reply of name calling when all else fails.
Each of the examples is that someone must give something to the "church" in order to participate in worship of our Lord according to what's being offered by that church. BTW, when I help clean the church facilities, that includes cleaning and sanitizing the nursery. If I had a baby, would that be enough sacrifice on my part to satisify those who require some form of payment?
Uhmmmmm......
This reminds me of a question that I have. Are there churches that REQUIRE children to be put into a nursery or attend Children's Church, if the parents want to attend the Sunday morning worship service?
At our church, parents have the choice of where their children stay during services. Members also have a choice as to which ministries, if any, in which they participate. Everyone is encouraged to volunteer to serve our Lord. And, many do. However, there are no LAW(s) established to "punish" those who don't FREELY and GLADLY give of themselves.
Edit: Just saw your detailed reply to my post. (sigh).........
The only person in my life who as that authority is the Holy Spirit. -
Terrible idea. First with the specific example. Does the pastor fall under this same mandate? Doe she step down from the pulpit every once in a while to work in the children's ministry instead of preaching? Why force parents of children to serve in one specific ministry in the church if they are already in one. My wife and I are both heavenly involved in the music ministry of our church.
Second, why force someone to serve? If they don't want to serve, then so be it. Should their children be in the childrens program? why not. Are we not all supposed to be serving(worshiping) God and all that we do in church be unto the Lord? You can't force someone to worship. Do you really want people ministering to your children that don't want to be there anyway? I wouldn't.
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