From Our Children's Director
An Important Message for Parents from Pender UMC ❤️
If your kids are loud, please still come to church.
They’re kids—and we love having them here!
If you’re running late because getting everyone dressed, fed, and out the door felt like a battle, please still come. Walk in late. Walk in frazzled. Walk in carrying backpacks, diaper bags, snacks, and all the things. We’ll be happy to see you.
If your toddler won’t sit still, please still come. Wiggles are welcome! We have a nursery and children’s spaces, and there are plenty of people here who understand that little ones have a lot of energy.
If your baby needs to eat, please still come. Feed that baby. Comfort that baby. Do whatever your baby needs. You never need to apologize for caring for your child at church.
If your child asks questions at the least convenient moment, please still come. We love their curiosity, their observations, and those wonderfully unexpected questions. Children are learning what worship means—and sometimes their questions are part of that learning.
If you feel like you spent the entire service managing your children and heard approximately 12% of the sermon, please still come. We understand. We are a church family. We’ll encourage you, help when we can, and remind you that showing up matters.
If you’re worried your children are distracting the people around you, please still come. Children are not an interruption to church. They are part of the church. Our congregation loves them, and we want them here.
Please don’t wait until your children are older, quieter, calmer, or better at sitting still before bringing them to worship.
Bring them just as they are. Bring yourself just as you are.
There will be wiggles.
There may be noise.
There may be spilled snacks.
There will definitely be questions.
And there will also be joy, laughter, learning, love, and a community that wants your family here.
❤️ At Pender, there is a place for every generation.
Come as you are.
Your children belong here.
You belong here.
Pender United Methodist Church
BELONG • GROW • SERVE • CHANGE LIVES
From the September 24, 2026 edition of This Week at Pender newsletter
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