The Pray-Ground is an area in one of the front corners of our sanctuary specifically set aside for young children during worship.  It consists of two rugs, two small tables with child-sized chairs and stools, coloring sheets, crayons, blocks, books, and soft toys.

There are also bouncy seats (for smaller infants), Bumbo chairs (for babies who can hold their heads up but can’t yet sit up on their own), and baby gyms available, though we find that these are used much less frequently than the things designed for toddlers and preschoolers.

Not really, and certainly not any noisier than it would be if those same kids were sitting in the pews!  We took great care in selecting play items that would keep the noise to a minimum: the blocks are made of foam, the books are all made of fabric (and we made sure they didn’t have any of the squeakers or crinkle-paper that is so popular now in fabric books!), the toys are all plush (we have play food and a play farm, for example, all from Ikea), and even the baskets where we keep the crayons are made of fabric.

The only items that could really be used to make noise would be if a child were to bang a crayon over and over on the plastic tables, but if/when this happens, a parent generally steps in quickly.  Same for dumping the entire basket of crayons out, which happens occasionally.  We get over it!

Surprisingly, we’ve found that the noise level has actually gone down since we’ve settled into the Pray-Ground.  The first few weeks were a little louder, but now the “regulars” know what’s expected of them, and they are rarely disruptive.  On occasions when there are a lot of visiting children (Christmas Eve, for example, or Easter morning, or when we have several baptisms with lots of visiting family), things do tend to be a little louder, but if it means that children who aren’t generally in church are in church, we give thanks and move on!

Generally-speaking, the Pray-Ground is intended for infants and toddlers, or for kids 3 and under, who are not yet old enough to attend Grace Bible School.  Kids who do attend Grace Bible School sit in worship with their parents until the children’s sermon (15-20 minutes into the service), and then go to Grace Bible School after that.

For kids who are too young to attend Grace Bible School, there are four options:  the Pray-Ground, where they stay for the entire service with their parents or other family members sitting directly behind them; our Koinonia Gallery, which is located behind a glass wall at the back of the sanctuary, and where the service is piped in through speakers (many churches call this a “cry room,” and ours is also equipped with many of the same play elements as the Pray-Ground); the nursery, which is staffed during every worship service for children 3 and under; and, of course, parents always have the option to simply sit with their children in the pews.  We have Busy Bags, as well, for kids who need a few extras to help hold their attention in the pews.

Because kids pay more attention when they can see what’s going on, and they’re short!  Lots of churches have similar areas for kids in the back, or in the middle, or off to the side.  We recognize that kids will play and color for much of the time, but they also pay attention to what’s happening in worship.  Occasionally, when I’m presiding over the Eucharist, I’ll catch a kid out of the corner of my eye imitating my movements.  Sometimes they play air-handbells or pretend to direct the choir.  Some parents have overheard their young children singing the liturgy at home.  When they can see what’s going on, they absorb things in a different way.

In addition, we think the location actually helps us to keep the noise down, though it sounds counter-intuitive.  The kids know how visible they are, so they behave better than they might if they thought no one could see them.

Most of our members were really skeptical at first, across age groups and regardless of whether they had kids! But Pastor John and I were both clearly in favor of it (that united front certainly didn’t hurt), and we talked about the potential benefits with lots of different groups for several months before-hand.

We debuted the Pray-Ground in worship on Mother’s Day of 2015, and much of the service was centered around children in worship.  That’s the day the yellow cards about Children at Grace went in the pew racks for the first time.  I preached about my experiences of parenting in the pews, and Pastor John dedicated the Pray-Ground.  He recognized that it would take some getting used to.  He pointed out that all the toys were soft and quiet.  And we also recognized that everything about it was moveable, which I think helped our members to understand that if it turned out to be a complete disaster, it wouldn’t take much to remove it.

Not any more than they are when they’re in the pews!  In my mind, any preacher worth their salt can handle a baby crying or a toddler screeching here and there.  Just like in most churches, our parents take their kids out when they get really disruptive, but we trust them to make those decisions, and would never ask them to do so.

It may help that, in our sanctuary, this space is right up front but it’s also somewhat off to the side.  Even if we moved it front-and-center, though, I think it would be just fine.  My pastoral colleague, John Matthews, has ADHD, and even with that he manages just fine!

Gosh, I don’t know, but somehow they manage.  It’s probably due to the fact that we have excellent preachers!  There are actually quite a number of places in the sanctuary where you can sit and not see the Pray-Ground at all.  Some people changed where they *usually* sit because they thought they’d be distracted by the kids.  Others changed where they sit in order to see them better!  Some people even comment, at the rare service where there are no kids at all using that space, how sad it seems.  In general, though, people seem to have no trouble with this, and many people have commented on how surprised they are about that, given how skeptical they were at the beginning

The rugs, the tables, the chairs, and a lot of the plush toys are from Ikea.  Most of the rest of the items (foam blocks and puzzles, cloth books, baby bouncers and gyms, Bumbo chairs) we bought from Craigslist or were donated by members

It’s actually pretty easy – almost everything can either go in the washing machine (the foam blocks, even if you put them in a sweater bag) or can be sprayed and wiped down.

Because it makes it so much easier for the kids to understand their boundaries!

Very carefully!  This part did take a bit of work, and still does, occasionally.  During those first few weeks, both during children’s sermons and at other points in the service, we pointed out (into the microphone, so everyone was on the same page) that there are candles at the top of the steps, and that each child needed to set a good example for the other kids (and that if they came up one step, their friend might think it was okay to go up the second step, etc.).  Now, the kids remind one another, and parents help each other out, too, especially when there’s a new family sitting there.

Yes, please do! You can find that document here.

Yes, please do! Again, that post can be found here. You can also browse our full library of photos here.

It came in somewhere between $1500 and $2000, which also includes the cost of the items in our Koinonia Gallery (1 table with chairs, more blocks and books, etc.).  Our Memorial Committee – made up almost entirely of older members – voted unanimously to fund this project with memorials designated for youth and children’s ministry!

It’s up for all of our worship services, because we really see it as part of our sanctuary. We do take it down for weddings, however, unless the couple wants us to leave it up.

None that we know of!

We didn’t!  I crowd-sourced with my colleagues in The Young Clergy Women Project, and the name was suggested by the Rev. Catherine Renken, pastor of Kirkwood Presbyterian Church in Kennesaw, GA.  It got the most votes by far.

We have approximately 1800 members, and 600 people in worship each week across 3 weekly services.