{"id":11481,"date":"2026-02-05T13:41:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=11481"},"modified":"2026-02-05T13:41:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T02:41:31","slug":"children-in-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=11481","title":{"rendered":"Children in Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><div class=\"wpcp-wp-lightbox-host wpcp-advanced-image-lightbox-icon-hover\"><a class=\"wpcp-wp-lightbox-image-link\" data-wpcp-wp-lb-image=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-300x225.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg\" data-fancybox=\"wpcp-wp-img-11482\" class=\"wpcp-lightbox-trigger wpcp-advanced-image-lightbox-icon wpcp-position-top-right wpcp-advanced-image-lightbox-icon-hover wpcp-global-lightbox-icon wpcp-lightbox-icon--global wpcp-lb-icon-style-default\" data-wpcp-lb-icon-source=\"global\" aria-label=\"Open image in lightbox\" data-thumb-src=\"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-300x225.jpeg\" data-wpcp-lb-single=\"1\"><span class=\"wpcp-icon-container\"><svg viewBox=\"0 0 20 20\"><path d=\"M17.6585 16.025L14.2437 12.6198C15.1716 11.3338 15.6121 9.7613 15.4871 8.1819C15.362 6.60251 14.6795 5.11847 13.5607 3.99351C12.936 3.36206 12.1916 2.86066 11.3709 2.51845C10.5502 2.17623 9.66952 2 8.77995 2C7.89039 2 7.00969 2.17623 6.18899 2.51845C5.36829 2.86066 4.62395 3.36206 3.99919 3.99351C3.36594 4.61649 2.86312 5.35871 2.51992 6.17708C2.17673 6.99545 2 7.87365 2 8.76068C2 9.64772 2.17673 10.5259 2.51992 11.3443C2.86312 12.1627 3.36594 12.9049 3.99919 13.5279C5.11957 14.6901 6.62279 15.4103 8.23285 15.5562C9.84291 15.7022 11.4517 15.2641 12.7639 14.3224L16.1788 17.7275C16.3849 17.9034 16.6473 18 16.9186 18C17.1899 18 17.4523 17.9034 17.6585 17.7275C18.1138 17.16 18.1138 16.5925 17.6585 16.025ZM5.59278 12.0523C5.16258 11.6298 4.82094 11.1263 4.58774 10.5709C4.35455 10.0156 4.23446 9.41951 4.23446 8.81744C4.23446 8.21536 4.35455 7.6193 4.58774 7.06394C4.82094 6.50859 5.16258 6.00503 5.59278 5.58257C6.01644 5.15359 6.52144 4.81292 7.07838 4.58039C7.63532 4.34786 8.23308 4.22811 8.83687 4.22811C9.44066 4.22811 10.0384 4.34786 10.5954 4.58039C11.1523 4.81292 11.6573 5.15359 12.081 5.58257C12.5112 6.00503 12.8528 6.50859 13.086 7.06394C13.3192 7.6193 13.4393 8.21536 13.4393 8.81744C13.4393 9.41951 13.3192 10.0156 13.086 10.5709C12.8528 11.1263 12.5112 11.6298 12.081 12.0523C11.6573 12.4813 11.1523 12.822 10.5954 13.0545C10.0384 13.287 9.44066 13.4068 8.83687 13.4068C8.23308 13.4068 7.63532 13.287 7.07838 13.0545C6.52144 12.822 6.01644 12.4813 5.59278 12.0523Z\" \/><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>My wife, Janice, can still remember taking our children to church and trying to keep them from getting too restless in the pews. She also remembers the people in front of her turning around and tutting disapprovingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This also happened to another Janice, who became a Minister, and who made sure she had a child\u2019s play area in every church she preached in, so no young mum needed be put off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Reflection: &#8211;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Bible tells us that all things work for the good of those who love the Lord, and sometimes the difficulties we overcome are what makes us better.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Geoff Serpell<\/strong> <em>adapted from The Friendship Book 2025<strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My wife, Janice, can still remember taking our children to church and trying to keep them from getting too restless in the pews. She also remembers the people in front of her turning around and tutting disapprovingly. This also happened to another Janice, who became a Minister, and who made sure she had a child\u2019s play area in every church she preached in, so no young mum needed be put off. Reflection: &#8211; The Bible tells us that all things work for the good of those who love the Lord, and sometimes the difficulties we overcome are what makes us better. Geoff Serpell adapted from The Friendship Book 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pew-stories"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg",640,480,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg",640,480,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg",640,480,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-300x225.jpeg",300,225,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg",640,480,false],"news_plugin_small":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg",640,480,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg",640,480,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_3347-rotated.jpeg",640,480,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Geoff Serpell","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/geoff"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?cat=76\" rel=\"category\">Pew stories<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"My wife, Janice, can still remember taking our children to church and trying to keep them from getting too restless in the pews. She also remembers the people in front of her turning around and tutting disapprovingly. This also happened to another Janice, who became a Minister, and who made sure she had a child\u2019s&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11483,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11481\/revisions\/11483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}