Ever have one of those days in worship where you’re sure there must be a full moon, because of all the bizarre things that happen? Yeah, us too.
Sometimes these interruptions are endearing, like the tiny girl in the frilly dress toddling down the center aisle with abounding joy as the band starts to play. Sometimes these interruptions are serious and scary, requiring immediate attention and the help of first responders to care for life threatening medical situations. Here we will focus on the issue of noise, and I’ll address some of the more serious disruptions in a separate post. Whatever the specific distraction might be, our response to the situation matters.
Noisy disruptions, I think, are especially troubling during worship. Somehow, they happen at the quietest times in the service, like the prayer or the sermon. Your leadership’s response to these noisy distractions will not only set the tone for your congregation but also play a big role in determining how much they impact your other guests’ overall experience of your church.
I love to see a church with a visible statement inviting families to worship together and acknowledging up front that the sounds and wiggles of young ones are welcome and nothing to shy away from. Most of these are short-lived and self-resolve. Or, if someone is simply having a coughing fit, you can have easily accessible bottles of water or cough drops to offer.
When noisy disruptions become prolonged, I believe we have an opportunity, and I encourage you to get curious. Just making a human connection and offering to help can go a long way toward making someone feel welcome and included. Bringing coffee to the parents of a noisy child can be an effective gesture of support and an opportunity to connect. Chances are, the parents aren’t enjoying the situation either. Be intentional in honoring the fact that they are present for worship and look for ways to get to know them and their story, in order to better understand and support them. Are there kids’ activities you can offer the family to help focus some of the energy and attention in a quieter way – maybe coloring sheets or fidget bags? Do you have kids’ ministry activities available you could invite them to participate in?
If you don’t already have one, could a soothing (or cry) room be created that is either inside or immediately adjacent to your worship space with both sound and a direct view of worship? We have sometimes placed rocker-gliders at the back of our worship space. These are not blocked off or separated from worship in any way, and they are regularly used.
We also often look for subtle ways to acknowledge and celebrate noise in worship as a good thing. In other words, worship that is the quietest generally reflects a church with no children (and perhaps no future). Whatever the disruption happens to be, I think curiosity and connection are your greatest tools. As we all continue to live out what it means to be followers of Jesus, we do so with each other in both the quiet and calm times and through the noisy, messy parts too!
Ginny Howell provides leadership to our Worship Experience teams across all of Resurrection's locations. She has a passion for welcoming and connecting people into the life of the church and works to ensure that our members and guests have an excellent worship experience. She's mom to three young women and g-momma to one sweet grandson, enjoys biking and hiking and loves hanging out with Lola, her rescued pit bull.