We had already stated our position when the church was planted and then wrote this article after several weeks of prayer and Bible study when a few families in the church asked that very question.
We came away from it more committed than ever to having everyone in the family in worship.
We do not have a nursery (we meet in a rented facility and only have access to one room anyway, but even if we had the room we would not have a nursery.) We would, if we had the space, utilize a crying/nursing room at the back, but not totally separate from the sanctuary.
As for crying babies, we patiently teach parents how to teach their kids to sit in church and participate. Families with older kids assist, and the whole church has an attitude of helping rather than finding a quick fix of removing the kids to another part of the building for babysitting.
We also record each sermon so that families can have them on tape or CD to hear what they miss, and I write a weekly family worship devotional for the church that cooresponds with the messages I preach, further reinforcing the teaching of the Word.
One example, we have a family that when they joined our church had a 7 month old boy. They were unsure of our policy, but now support it wholeheartedly. That 7 month old was at first noisy and hard to control. Especially as he grew. But now he is now not quite 3, and he sits through church (10:30 am to 12:30PM), helps suggest hymns to sing (that he has been taught at home in family worship), sings along, says "Amen" at the end of every prayer, and can answer several catechism quetsions. His parents still don't believe it. But consistent loving discipline and exposure to routine will teach a child at a very early age how to act in church!
And a church that is open to helping parents is a true blessing.
As we asked in the article, what justification do we have to remove our children from hearing the preaching of the Word of God, the means of grace?
We now have more kids than adults in our worship service. And they are learning with us how to worship God in spirit and truth!
Phillip