Is it acceptable or is it rude to let a child bring a book to church?

[Anonymous]

I think for a small child, it's fine. And, if the child starts to fuss or even to be happy in a noisy way (lots of giggling, cooing, etc..), please remove him/her immediately so as not to disturb other worshippers.

By 7 a child needs to be sitting there without other distractions. Not sure about Episcopal, but in the Catholic church you usually make your first communion at about age 7 or 8 so there's an expectation that you're mature enough to sit and follow along for an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's rude and unacceptable is a child who is bouncing around distracting adults who are trying to pray. I keep my children quiet with a small notebook and a pen.

This is my son. He's 2.5 and very high energy. We're doing the best we can. We keep him quiet with books and snacks the best we can. I try to keep him interested in the service and the singing, but let's face it, he's 2. He's never going to learn to behave in church if we don't keep bringing him. He's a handful for both of us, and with one of us managing the new baby, it can get tough. Perhaps you could pray for us, as we try to build our family's spirituality. We could certainly use your compassion.