Woe unto us

Blogging has such an open forum for debate and a soapbox and as a result strong opinions and offenses can rage. I say that to say that I am addressing a growing trend that I keep noticing popping up in churches and among Christian families.
Right now amongst strong Christian churches and families there is a growing trend of believers who are rising up and calling the church (one of God's ordained institutions) hypocrites because the family is separated into classes according to age.
In one particular blog they have gone so far as to say that the church preaches family time and then separates the family and that the public school system has a better system for promoting family togetherness.
I am the oldest of 9 kids. I am a mom of 4 kids. I am a Pastor's wife. I am a Beginners Sunday School teacher. I say all that to say that I have been in lots of different family situations in the church and that is where my point of view is coming from.
In the position of being the oldest of 9 when I went to Sunday School and Jr. Church and then, later, youth group. I learned about the Bible stories and about life at my speed. If I had questions about what I learned I went to my parents. Understanding that that's what they were there for.
With my 4 kids, while driving to church, we talk about how great it is to be going to church. We talk about our expectations for a good day. We sing songs together. We talk about the people we hope to see. All of that is family time before church. After church, we talk about what they learned in Jr. Church. We ask what they learned in S. S. (they all get the same lesson appropriate for their age). We use that time to make application for our own family if necessary or ask questions. That is family time.
As the beginners teacher I consider it a privilege to teach those little ones some of the first things some of them will ever hear about Jesus. I love it that they come in not knowing anything and in just a couple of weeks they are asking to sing "My God is So Big" or "The BIBLE".
Maybe we have a distorted view of family time.
Getting your kids to sit in church and behave takes training. What makes me absolutely crazy (just my own little peeve I'm sure) is when parents insist that their kids sit in church but don't make them be in church. By that I mean, they aren't made to open a song book. They aren't made to sit up in their seat. Sometimes they aren't even made to stand if the congregation is standing. So they sit in the congregation with people who are not their own age, hearing preaching that is not at their level while a teacher, who has studied to present the Bible in a way that is understandable for them, teaches a class they are not in. Only to have that child's rebellion fester in their heart and a callous grow towards the Word of God.
Time for training your children on sitting still is not when you're in church and the message is being preached. The time for training is in your own home. Family time should be during the week or weekend or Sunday's between services when you and your family do what you enjoy, be it games, movies, picnics, hiking, reading, cycling, etc...
Maybe some of us need to be reminded of the church family? We would do well to remember that the church can sometimes be closer to us than our own biological family because of the ties that bind there.