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My days of quiet contemplation at church ceased three and a half years ago when my first child, Elise, was born. Before we had kids, my husband and I were able to pray with reverence and concentrate on every word of the readings. Now, church is one long hour of multitasking. I pray with one eye on my kids. I listen to the sermon while retrieving granola bars from the floor. I sing along to hymns as I fish children's books out of our backpack. Some weeks, my most worshipful moment is thanking God that my 1-year-old son, Jonah, is intrigued by the new candles up front.

Most of the time, we're willing to go through this inconvenience because it's important to us that we worship as a family. But some weeks I find myself thinking, Maybe we should give up and start shipping them to the nursery.

To help me decide if our efforts to keep our kids in church are worth it, I talked to parents, pastors, and religious educators for their opinions. They were unanimous. "One of the most important parts of parenting is teaching your children how to worship," says Georgene Burt, minister of child education at First Baptist Church of Ellisville, Missouri. "It's hard sometimes, especially if you have a child who's very active. You may even have to realize that you're not going to get very much out of the service. But, remember, like everything else, this stage, too, will pass."

Some Christian educators believe that including children in the worship service is more than just a nice idea; it's essential to their spiritual development. Myra Arnold, who teaches religion to 2- to 6-year-olds at Messiah Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, says, "Jesus intended for us to bring children into this celebration. Being part of the community of faith is the basis of us being able to live a Christian life, and children are a part of that community. The 2 1/2-year-olds I teach love church. That seems to be the beginning of their sensitivity to spiritual things."

Even if we firmly believe that our children should participate in the worship service, we often worry about what other people will think. But according to Eric Carlson, pastor of First Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wisconsin, that's a worry we can let go of. "It may be distracting [for other parishioners] to hear a baby cry or a toddler say something," he says. "But remember that Jesus welcomed the little ones. I often think of the time the custodian told me that it looked like it had been a great Sunday morning because there were so many Cheerios in the pews. He was right."

While worshiping as a family sounds great in theory, in practice, it can be tough to pull off. But there are ways you can make the task easier. For toddlers and preschoolers, the key is making them feel like an important part of the church community. Encourage your child to be involved in the service. Let her hold the hymnbook and put the money in the collection plate. In the week before the service, learn some of the songs you'll be singing on Sunday so she can sing along. Sit in the front row so your child can see what's going on and you can explain to her what's happening. If she feels welcome and loved in church, she'll have a more positive view of worship, and that can last all the way to adulthood.

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