dumb question about church

I know all churches are different, but if anyone can tell me what
their church does, I'd be grateful. My question is in regards to
church nurserys. Do they take children in the nursery on a first come
first serve basis each Sunday? Or do you have to enroll your child?
Are there always openings? Since they are only in there an hour, do
you just bring diapers for them and that's it? Again, I know all
churches are different, I'm just trying to get a general idea.

Thanks
Karen

I have never been to a "mega" church but the churches I've been to have
volunteers who sign up for nursery duty. I can't imagine a child being
turned away and you don't have to sign up ahead of time. Make sure you
label your child/children's bag/s with name and if he/she has any special
needs like allergies, make sure you let the nursery person/people know.

Lynda

"Karen P" wrote in message
...
I know all churches are different, but if anyone can tell me what
their church does, I'd be grateful. My question is in regards to
church nurserys. Do they take children in the nursery on a first come
first serve basis each Sunday? Or do you have to enroll your child?
Are there always openings? Since they are only in there an hour, do
you just bring diapers for them and that's it? Again, I know all
churches are different, I'm just trying to get a general idea.

Thanks
Karen

I'll reply based on a number of churches I've attended (since our current
church is very small and there are only 4 kids under the age of 4, two of
which are mine), but keep in mind that all of them were in the under 300
member category. Much larger churches might do things very differently. IOW,
everyone knew everyone else, so there was no fear of a child getting lost in
the shuffle, or any need for security or anything.

IME, nursery is a very casual thing. You take your kid there if he/she needs
to be there (we'd usually keep DS with us until he wasn't willing to stay
quietly with us, and then take him to nursery, usually by the start of the
sermon), you get them out if they need to come out. Care providers are there
on a voluntary basis, so they would always come get us if our kid had a
problem . . . or sometimes one of us would stay with DS and just help out.
It was never the sort of thing you would "enroll" a child in--you'd just
show up, get child settled doing some sort of activity, and leave to go to
the service.

I'd take diapers and wipes (though some churches have a common "pot" to
share), and a drink and snacks clearly labeled with the child's name.

HTH,

--
Jodi
SAHM to Oliver (2 years, 7 months) & Arwen (5 months)

Thanks for the info! The church we are planning to attend is very
large, and I need to call them to find out what "they" do, but I feel
so stupid. Like I should already know. Anyway, thanks!

Karen P wrote:

Thanks for the info! The church we are planning to attend is very
large, and I need to call them to find out what "they" do, but I feel
so stupid. Like I should already know. Anyway, thanks!

Ours (if you're going to be bringing your child in regularly) likes you
to fill out a short form, so they know who's coming in. Also, parents
who have children in the nursery also help out approximately once a
month. No child is ever turned away. There usually aren't *that* many
kids there (except on Easter Sunday) There are diapers & wipes available
for use, but most parents bring some for their child. There's usually a
snack provided as well.

I don't think our church has a nursery this year. We have a new priest who
encourages children to stay in church with the family. In past years, any
child was welcome, no one was turned away. There was a sign-up sheet for
volunteers (if you had your child in the nursery you were expected to help
out a couple of times ). They did not change diapers, if a child needed
changing they would come get the parent.

"Karen P" wrote in message
...
I know all churches are different, but if anyone can tell me what
their church does, I'd be grateful. My question is in regards to
church nurserys. Do they take children in the nursery on a first come
first serve basis each Sunday? Or do you have to enroll your child?
Are there always openings? Since they are only in there an hour, do
you just bring diapers for them and that's it? Again, I know all
churches are different, I'm just trying to get a general idea.

Thanks
Karen

Karen P wrote:

I know all churches are different, but if anyone can tell me what
their church does, I'd be grateful. My question is in regards to
church nurserys. Do they take children in the nursery on a first come
first serve basis each Sunday? Or do you have to enroll your child?
Are there always openings? Since they are only in there an hour, do
you just bring diapers for them and that's it? Again, I know all
churches are different, I'm just trying to get a general idea.

Thanks
Karen

Every church is different. I think (and I'm not sure) that we have
parents fill out a form, but I know when my kids were younger, we did
n't have that. We used to have a paid attendant- but now parents take
turns with help from some teenagers. Parents usually bring diapers, but
we have a common emergency stash. If the baby/toddler gets very upset,
someone brings the child into church to look for the parents. I can
never think of a time when children have been turned away.

Karen P wrote:
I know all churches are different, but if anyone can tell me what
their church does, I'd be grateful. My question is in regards to
church nurserys.

Well, I'm nominally LdS. The family attends the main service together, then
children 18 mos to 3 years go to nursery (while everyone else goes to
classes appropriate to their ages) for the other two hours. Children who are
members of the ward (a ward is a congregation defined by geographical
boundaries) are on the membership rolls, but children who are visiting are
certainly welcome to go to the nursery as well.

--
iphigenia
www.tristyn.net
"i have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
i do not think that they will sing to me."

On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:28:01 -0600, "iphigenia"
wrote:

Karen P wrote:
I know all churches are different, but if anyone can tell me what
their church does, I'd be grateful. My question is in regards to
church nurserys.

Well, I'm nominally LdS. The family attends the main service together, then
children 18 mos to 3 years go to nursery (while everyone else goes to
classes appropriate to their ages) for the other two hours. Children who are
members of the ward (a ward is a congregation defined by geographical
boundaries) are on the membership rolls, but children who are visiting are
certainly welcome to go to the nursery as well.

Thanks for so much info, everyone. I really appreciate it.

In article ,
Karen P wrote:

I know all churches are different, but if anyone can tell me what
their church does, I'd be grateful. My question is in regards to
church nurserys. Do they take children in the nursery on a first come
first serve basis each Sunday? Or do you have to enroll your child?
Are there always openings? Since they are only in there an hour, do
you just bring diapers for them and that's it? Again, I know all
churches are different, I'm just trying to get a general idea.

Thanks
Karen

Our nursery has never been over-filled, but we do have a maximum
adult/infant ratio (or adult/toddler) and if we hit it we would first
try to recruit one more volunteer to help staff the nursery, then, if
necessary, we'd have to tell people they couldn't leave their little
ones. If it were a Sunday when It was possible, I might try to lighten
the load by carrying a baby with me while I supervised the activities
for the older kids. (There was a brief spell where we had too many
infants, and I did that and really enjoyed it! But it isn't always
practical.) Many parents keep their infants, and even toddlers, with
them throughout the service, others will have one parent stay in the
nursery with a toddler who is having separation issues. All forms are
welcome.

I'd love it if I had to worry about overflowing the nursery! But if it
was a routine problem, we'd probably hire a second nursery care person.
(We have one paid staff person and one volunteer each Sunday.)

I ask that everyone who begins to attend regularly fill out a
registration form, but if they don't, I don't insist -- at least not for
the nursery. However, our paid nursery staff do have a sign in sheet
and collect some information.

Most people leave a diaper bag for their child, with anything they think
they might need in one hour. We typically don't have to change a lot of
diapers, but like having one handy just in case.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care