BY ANGELA CAVES T A F F W R I T E R

Fifty feet from the worshipspace at Our Lady of GraceChurch in Ballston Lake sits acheery nursery room. If babiesand children can’t stop crying orchattering during Mass, parentscan hustle them to the carpetedroom, which contains a chang-ing table, books, toys and aspeaker system.

“It’s kind of nice to have a placeto go so you don’t have to walk asmall child around,” said AlisonNorton, a parishioner and themother of a four-year-old and atwo-month-old. Still, she and herhusband “really only try to use itas a last resort.”

Eileen Stone, the mother of aseven-year-old and a three-year-old, agreed that the room is “con-venient if you’re there and wantto get back for communion,” butsaid she and others do not abusethe privilege.

Whether parents use the nurs-ery room “really depends onwhat’s going on,” Mrs. Stoneexplained. “I think parents in gen-eral are trying to stay in Mass.”

Across the Albany Diocese,parishes offer a variety of accom-modations for families: nurseryrooms, couches in foyers, rock-ing chairs in the worship spaceor the Liturgy of the Word forchildren, during which childrengo to a separate room to hear theScripture readings explained.

Room of requirement?Diocesan officials theorize

that “cry rooms” — separatespaces that let families watchthe liturgy through a windowand hear it through speakers —can be found in fewer parishesthan in years past.

This is true around the coun-try, as well. Cry rooms sprang upin churches after the SecondVatican Council in the late1960s, but were often repur-posed over the decades sincethen.

“People have become moreaccepting of the presence ofchildren in congregations,” saidElizabeth Simcoe, diocesanchancellor for pastoral services,adding that the increase inmovement and music duringthe liturgy since Vatican II moreeffectively engages children.

Some parish leaders told TheEvangelist they oppose the con-cept of cry rooms, saying theseparate spaces ostracize fami-lies and fail to demonstrate tochildren the realities of life in a

parish community.Traditional cry rooms remain

in some parishes, but mostparish leaders who spoke withThe Evangelist agreed that therooms should be a temporarysolution when children can’t besoothed.

“We prefer people to be in thecongregation. That’s the best,”said Rev. Dennis Murphy, pastorof Our Lady of Hope parish inFort Plain.

However, parishioners thererecently converted closets into a“gathering room” equipped withspeakers and an altar-facing win-dow. They use it for faith forma-tion classes, daily Mass in the win-ter and as a family room if neces-sary during weekend Masses.

“It gives [parents] the freedomif they feel they need it,” FatherMurphy said. “Some peoplewon’t come [to Mass] becausethey’re afraid they’re distractingother people. Before we had [theroom], people were just gettingup and walking outside.”

We like themRev. Anthony Motta, pastor at

Sacred Heart-Immaculate Con-ception parish in Haines Falls,agreed that children sometimesneed distractions.

During church renovations tohis parish in the 1990s, glassdoors were installed in the foyer.Now, almost every weekend dur-ing Mass, up to five parentsretreat there with their children.

At St. John the Baptist parishin Walton, a cry room with pewsand kneelers has accommodat-ed up to a dozen families every

weekend since 1964, said HenryTassitano, a long-time usher.

He said he supports itbecause children can act disor-derly during Mass.

“When the kids are jumpingaround and screaming, the par-ents pick them up and bringthem in there, and then it’s calm,”Mr. Tassitano said. The childrenare “isolated, and I think they likethat. They can hear [the Mass] inthat room. The parents are stillteaching them. They stand andkneel — they go through thewhole routine.”

Corpus Christi Church inRound Lake takes a differentapproach: Four rocking chairsare scattered throughout theworship space for use by par-ents with small children andadults with physical limitations.

“They can sit [children] in therocking chair and they can go tosleep like they do at Grandma’shouse,” said Rev. James Clark,pastor.

Cry rooms should not be ideal-ized, he said: “I don’t really see anyreason for one because [parents]can also lose control and it canturn into a playroom. There areprobably better pastoral ways tomake both the parent and the chil-dren feel comfortable.”

Leaders at other parishes saidthat priests can preach over the

noise of a crying baby and that afoyer with a changing tableshould be sufficient.

Intelligent design“The children are part of the

community,” declared ElizabethRowe-Manning, parish life direc-tor at St. Vincent de Paul parishin Albany. “If a baby is fussy, theparents here go to the back orstand in the vestibule until achild calms down. [Cry rooms]just seem so separate.”

Rev. Richard Vosko, a Sundaypresider at St. Vincent’s and aliturgical designer since 1970,has never installed a cry room inany of the 120 church buildingshe has designed.

“It’s no way to treat a child andit’s no way to treat an adult with achild,” Father Vosko said. Headvises providing nurserieswhere infants can sleep, tod-dlers can nap and play and olderchildren can participate in theLiturgy of the Word.

“We can take a lesson fromevangelical churches,” he re-marked, describing rooms inthose worship spaces with tele-vision monitors designed fornursing mothers and childrenwith developmental disabilities.

“If there’s a perception that cryrooms are on their way out,” thepriest-consultant added, “I’mhappy.”

11June 23 and 30, 2011 TH E E VA NG E L I S T

FATHER’S DAY

Historic St. Agnes Cemetery

is pleased to announce the

Fourth Annual

Photo Contest 2011

Amateur and professional photographers

are invited to take photographs of sculpture,

artwork, nature and views within

St. Agnes Cemetery from now until

Sept. 19 (see rules for details).

The deadline for submission is Sept. 19, 2011.

A Tradition of Faith

HISTORIC

ST. AGNES

CEMETERY

CONTEST SPONSORED BY

Complete contest rules and registration forms are available in the Cemetery Office,

48 Cemetery Ave., Menands, NY 12204; (518) 463-0134 or on our website:

capitaldistrictcemeteries.org or by emailing kellyann.grimaldi@rcda.org. Find us on FaceBook.

CASHPRIZES

1st place $400

2nd place $200

3rd place $100

ADULT CATEGORY

1st place $200

2nd place $100

3rd place $50

STUDENT CATEGORY

high school& younger

St. Agnes Cemetery was founded in 1867

as part of the 19th Century rural cemetery

movement. Its 114 acres feature beautiful views,

art, monuments and private mausoleums

with spectacular stained glass windows.

Above, 2010 3rd place winner Linda Heim’s entry.

WORSHIP SPACES

To cry room ornot to cry room

A ROCKING CHAIR AT CORPUS CHRISTI CHURCH, ROUND LAKE

DAD’S WORDS

FATHERLY ADVICE

Editor’s note: The Evangelistasked area Catholics to recallthe best advice their father — ora father figure — ever gavethem.

• “My father passed awaywhen I was just a baby, but peo-ple still tell me about his kind-ness — even today, over 60years later. That’s the lesson hetaught me: that little acts ofkindness mean a lot and theylive on.” — Rev. James Spenard,OSA, pastor, St. Augustine’sparish, Troy

• “‘Put turf builder on thelawn!’Whenhepassedaway,out of allthe sage advice he had givenme growing up, that’s what Iremembered. And I always adda little to his cemetery plot —with apologies to the cemeterystaff.” — Ginny Daley, secretaryto Bishop Howard J. Hubbard

• “‘If you don’t have anythinggood to say, don’t say anything.’”— Eileen Davenport, assistantfor special programs, St.Bernard’s School of Theologyand Ministry, Albany

• “My dad frequently said(and still says), ‘God writesstraight on crooked lines.’” —Stephen Mawn, associate direc-tor for catechist formation andrespect life, diocesan Office ofEvangelization, Catechesis andFamily Life

• “My Dad always told us, ‘Beyourself — you’ve got what ittakes.’ I love him!” — KathyTrudeau, internal auditor,Catholic Charities of theAlbany Diocese

• “The best advice my dadgave me was not spoken, butrather lived. A man of character,integrity, infinite good will,humor and God, he taught byexample. As they say, actionsspeak louder than words.” —Carol Raabe, composition spe-cialist, The Evangelist

• “‘Always keep your self-respect and respect for others.’He also said, ‘Don’t be quick tocriticize others because you’renot in their shoes.’” — VivianMorelli, parish secretary, St.Augustine’s parish, Troy

(Compiled by staff writerCasey Normile)