Screaming, sneezing and coughing fits happen, especially in church. Times have changed, says the Rev. Will Cotton, senior pastor at Trinity-First United Methodist Church in El Paso. But the baby boomers and the baby busters are returning to church, and they're bringing their kids with them. First-Trinity United Methodist has a special children's sermon, for which kids from the congregation are invited to come to the front of the church to do something special. At the Unitarian Universalist Community of El Paso, people who make a noise that's more distracting than joyful normally know when to head out to the patio, says Dr. Robert Crane, the church's publicity chairman.
People are very considerate.
At the 10 a.m. Sunday Mass at El Paso's Our Lady of the Light Church, the Rev. Jose Guerrero relies on a sense of humor to assuage the embarrassment of moms with suddenly vocal babies and toddlers. Rabbi Stephen Leon, of Congregation B'nai Zion, agrees. He says he would never stop a service to shush someone. He added that B'nai Zion has a baby-sitting service during the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and during Hanukkah, times when the crowd swells to more than 1,000 people. Guerrero's church has a cry room near the entrance with glass and a sound system so that people with crying babies can enjoy at least a part of the service.