Children in Meeting: One Friend thinks they should stay

‘How can it not be appropriate for a child to remain with its parent?’

by Anonymous 22nd August 2025

We do not have a Children’s Meeting locally, although we do have all-age worship once a month. But recently an attender brought her young son along to one of our regular Meetings for Worship. She wanted her child to remain for the whole hour, but was told it was not permitted. The attender expressed criticism: she felt this was not very welcoming. I felt that I should uphold her and her son in this request. I put it to the Meeting: why was it not appropriate for a child to remain for the whole hour?