The Leen

I heard back from the pastor. I emailed my letter Tuesday afternoon about 2:00, and he called me at 5:30. Not a bad turnaround, actually, considering I wasn’t expecting a response.

The conversation was very civil, and very calm. He apologized for how we were treated, and said that he was glad I’d taken the time to write. I thanked him for his apology. He went on to say that someone would definitely be talking with the woman who treated us so rudely, and that what she said to Brett was not okay and it would be addressed.

However, he said that their policy is, indeed, that they don’t allow children under the age of 6 in the sanctuary at all, at any point in the service.

He said that over his years of being a pastor, he’s decided that this is the best policy, despite the fact that he has four children. He said that their sanctuary is so small and intimate that one, they don’t have room for kids, and two, when a sensitive moment arises and, he said, “the Holy Spirit is moving,” that a child can distract people due to the size and intimacy of the space.

Huh. And here I thought the Holy Spirit (that is, you know, GOD) is powerful enough to work in spite of a child’s voice.

Anyway, he said that my letter also brought to his attention that they probably do need to say up front that children aren’t allowed in the service. He also said that their entire “family room” program is in transition, and that it used to be a section of the church that they opened to the sanctuary during the worship, then could close during the sermon. But because they have had a lot of people attending lately, they turned that area into regular seating and are going to build a different family room off the balcony, he said. The room we saw was a temporary solution. Shrug. Whatever. Either way, that’s not okay with Brett and me.

I thanked him for his call, and for his apology, and said (very nicely) that clearly, we had a fundamental difference of opinion, and he could explain his rationale about not allowing children all he wanted but I’d still disagree with him. I told him that I was disappointed, that his church had seemed to be a good fit in every other way, but that it was not the place for us if that was their policy.

The conversation was actually really anti-climatic. I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but at least it did provide us with clarity that it is not the place for us.

Sigh. So it’s back to church shopping…that is, if Brett can get a Sunday morning off or if we can find another church with an evening service, which is proving to be really hard.Frustrating, but I’ll just keep trying to trust that God has the right place for us.