ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 9, 1995 TAG: 9512120003
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: KIMBERLY O'BRIEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
For the first time in 12 weeks, Alice Carpenter sat through an entire church service.
And for the first time in her 12 weeks on this Earth Sydney Claire Carpenter made it through an entire church service, too. No crying, no fussing and no causing mom to have to leave the sanctuary.
The reason? A rocking chair.
The Paran United Methodist Church off Dickerson Road in Albemarle County prides itself on its acceptance of all generations and encourages families with children - no matter how young - to attend.
Small children running down the aisles on Sunday mornings don't faze the church's 200-plus members: Someone just scoops up the child and the service continues without losing a beat.
So when the church's pastor, the Rev. Elfie Finn-McKenzie, noticed three mothers pacing with their infant children outside the sanctuary's closed glass doors one recent Sunday, unable to hear the service, she came up with an idea.
Why not take out the one of the back pews and put rocking chairs in its place to accommodate parents with small children?
That night, she brought the idea before her administrative board, which jumped on it immediately.
``We wanted the church to have a real friendly atmosphere,'' said Mary Seymour, who sits on the board. ``We wanted people to feel comfortable. It would really show the parents we understand their situation.''
So out went a pew and in went two rocking chairs.
And the mothers - and the fathers - of the congregation breathed a sigh of relief.
``Who else but Elfie could think of this?'' Carpenter, a southern Albemarle County resident, asked as she rocked her daughter to sleep one day last week. ``Usually we moms don't say anything - we just try to deal with it ourselves. This is wonderful. I think the chairs are going to be really helpful.''
Susan Veach of Earlysville agreed. Though her son, Steven, will turn 1 on Tuesday and doesn't cry in church as much as he used to, Veach said she sees herself ``definitely'' taking advantage of the chairs.
``We're looking forward to it,'' she said, chasing after Steven as he made a beeline for the sanctuary doors, ``because last year when we didn't have them, I had to take him out when he'd fuss.''
There are two chairs in the sanctuary right now, both of which were donated by the University of Virginia, Finn-McKenzie said. The church hopes to get two more chairs soon, she added.
Finn-McKenzie said she frequently noticed parents maneuvering their ways out of pews, bogged down with diaper bags and other assorted baby equipment, to walk outside the sanctuary and usually stay there.
``One of the big problems with pews is that you usually end up having to go in front of people - it's like a movie theater,'' she said. ``I was worried that parents were reluctant to come back in after taking babies out.''
The location in the rear of the church, dubbed ``The Wailing Wall,'' was ideal, she said.
``The church is supposed to be where you nurture all ages,'' Seymour said. ``A lot of churches may not always cater to the needs of all generations.''
The church boasts about 200 members and nearly half of those are children, including a number of infants. Ten babies have been born to parents who belong to the church in the last year, Finn-McKenzie said.
It's something that young families appreciate, said Michael Huitt of Greene County, who attends Paran with his wife and three daughters.
``One of the very important things in our church has been the kids,'' said Huitt, who also sits on the board and directs the church's youth ministries. ``That's what attracted my wife and I here. We saw it was OK to have your children here. Even when they ran around, it was a little more tolerated.''
And as any member of the church will joke, there's always someone around to help out when kids get a little overactive or even when they're behaving just fine.
The rocking chairs are just yet another way to help.
``It's a wonderful opportunity,'' Huitt said, ``because usually the child just needs to be held and comforted. This is a way to do it.''
``You don't know what to do or where to go when your baby cries in church,'' added Seymour. ``Now there's a place to go.''
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Alice Carpenter, holding her daughter Sydney, joinsby CNB11-month-old Steven Veach (left) to take advantage of rocking chairs
at a Charlottesville church.