Let the little children come to me

When our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belong to such as these," He took the little children in His arms with their mothers. 

He did not say "Let the little children exit the sanctuary with the education director, and do not hinder them, because an age-appropriate experience is needed for such as these"

Why is it then that so many of our churches are establishing a "Childrens Church" or Sunday School during the divine service where the kids are removed from worship?  

Many such cases:

• Saint Paul's Muskego offers child care during their services
• Saint Paul's Onalaska offers child care during their contemporary service
• Carbon Valley in Firestone Colorado dismisses kids 5 years and younger for "age appropriate learning".
• Divine Savior in Doral, Florida offers "age-appropriate lessons and activities during the Divine Service.

I'm sure you could find many more offenders; these are the ones I've come across on my travels. 

Worship is not divisive: it is a thing that includes the family from the great-grandfather who can barely be transported and not without help to the infant that needs similar accompaniment. 

Separate worship segregated by age group exposes the vibe that Church is a cognitive thing instead of a spiritual thing. They extract the worst of modern education and force-fit it to worship. In reality, the kids learn patterns before they establish meaning. How many grandmothers grab a grandchild and ask them "where is Jesus?" "Up in heaven and in my heart" while grabbing the childs' chubby arms and pointing to the sky and then their chest. Christ is there and He is working in both their hearts. My children could recite the Lord's Prayer at a very early age where they couldn't tell you the meaning of most of the words. They had faith, and their faith grew as they learned the words. 

Or it betrays a view that worship is a form of entertainment. A child's attention is not 'held' by the liturgy, so we need to form-fit worship into a sequence of age-appropriate activities and entertainment - again taking the secular psychology and overwriting the words of Scripture.  (The same mistake manifests itself in the "comedic relief" of a Childrens' Sermon. Why not a boomer sermon? They make cute comments too!)

Our Lutheran Book of Concord affirms:

"The Gospel teaches an eternal righteousness of the heart. Meanwhile, it does not destroy the State or the family, but very much requires that they be preserved as ordinances of God, and that charity be practiced in such ordinances."

Let the little children come to worship with their parents.