We are older but take a grade schooler to church with us.
Over the last couple of years the services have gradually lengthened to near two hours. Between having a youngster who finds that too long, one of us being post polio and the other with a bad back, we've had to be a bit creative. Our current pastor doesn't like people arriving late or leaving early.
We attend Sunday School and usually leave right after that. It gives us that connect with the church time. Between podcasts and televised services from other churches, we make do. And we participate as we can in Bible studies outside of Sunday held at church. With one of us with glaucoma and both with cataracts we don't do the midweek service, the only pm one we have. But in the warm months when it is still daylight to go and come home, we also have that. Those services are shorter, more like a regular hour long service just the sermon portion is interactive.
Our preference would be to attend SS, then stay for as much of the service as we could and slip out quietly when we couldn't stay any longer. As it bothers the pastor for folks to do that, we do like most of the families with children younger than 12 or so and just leave after SS.
Over the last couple of years the services have gradually lengthened to near two hours. Between having a youngster who finds that too long, one of us being post polio and the other with a bad back, we've had to be a bit creative. Our current pastor doesn't like people arriving late or leaving early.
We attend Sunday School and usually leave right after that. It gives us that connect with the church time. Between podcasts and televised services from other churches, we make do. And we participate as we can in Bible studies outside of Sunday held at church. With one of us with glaucoma and both with cataracts we don't do the midweek service, the only pm one we have. But in the warm months when it is still daylight to go and come home, we also have that. Those services are shorter, more like a regular hour long service just the sermon portion is interactive.
Our preference would be to attend SS, then stay for as much of the service as we could and slip out quietly when we couldn't stay any longer. As it bothers the pastor for folks to do that, we do like most of the families with children younger than 12 or so and just leave after SS.