Originally Posted by Beth1231 (Post 3225406)

The emphasis on grace is dominant,but the application to children has not stretched to publicly denounce punitive parenting.
I love how the pastor soothes the little ones from the pulpit or makes a little joke so the parent is not as embarrassed.
A/G is Assembly of God,a Pentecostal denom.

Originally Posted by jenn3514 (Post 3232828)

I was going to say that ime, the UMC has been a fan of not spanking. Ours does encourage use of time outs, grounding and such, but it's a start.



I think that unless there is an official stance- this is going to vary church by church (not just with AoG) In this area- the AoG churches love Pearl, Ezzo, and Tripp.It was the first time I ever heard of them.

Originally Posted by Punkie (Post 3224617)

The United Methodist Church has taken a stance against corporal punishment. They are the only protestants that I know with that kind if stance. It is not a perfect statement, but a big step in the right direction:
http://www.umc-gbcs.org/site/apps/nl...243&ct=8534005
http://www.nospank.net/swan.htm

Several Catholic churches have made a similar statement :)

Originally Posted by Havilah (Post 3225269)

I our experience the Eastern Orthodox church has been very graceful towards children. I also really like that there is no nursery, and all the little old ladies smile when my kids act like children. :melt

Originally Posted by Mama Calidad (Post 3242035)

:yes And when I read On the Upbringing of Children by Elder Porphyrios... :heart Awesome, awesome. :heart

Originally Posted by oneblessedmama06 (Post 3242352)

We go to the Church of Christ, and they preach grace and forgiveness and love, but apparently only for adults. The kids have very nice sunday school classes and bible hour classes, but I've been very nervous about leaving my children in the care of people who think it's okay to hit children. Not that I think they would, but it's just that mindset, you know? I haven't been to church in over 2 months. Lately because I've been sick, but mostly because I just don't know if I even want to go to this church anymore. Thankfully they don't teach Pearl, but they do teach Dobson. I have also talked to several members and they are all pro spanking. It just makes me very uneasy. And there is NO way my husband would ever go to a different church. So we're kinda stuck there :(

Originally Posted by forty-two (Post 3224874)

Grace-based parenting fits in *perfectly* with Lutheran doctrine - it's actually how I got my dh on board with GBD in the first place. He went from mainstream punitive to GBD through discussions of the underlying theology, and is just as against punitive Christian teachers as I am (they invariably distort the Gospel in their attempts to justify their position).

But, alas, while GBD is a great practical outworking of Lutheran theology - and certainly Lutheran pastors aren't preaching "Thou shalt spank" sermons - my experience as a life-long Lutheran (LCMS) is that we largely match the larger culture wrt to most culture-driven beliefs/traits (as opposed to having a deliberate counter-culture). And that, ime, has meant mainstream punitive, along with a general sense of approval of Dobson :sigh, which largely reflects the larger culture of the places in which I've lived. There seems to be this huge disconnect, where Lutherans preach grace so very, very well, but then just adopt the default Christian and/or conservative method of discipline, and *never* *ever* realize that the latter contradicts the former :banghead.

However, the grace-filled Lutheran theology has, ime, moderated greatly the actual practice of child-rearing. To hear my parents talk, they are straight up adversarial Dobson fans. But they actually pretty much GBD'd us :shrug3. While I am in the minority at my church with GBD, no one looks down on me for it, and everyone agrees (to my face, at least) that it is a legitimate approach, even if they don't believe it to be the best approach, and I rarely see examples of punitive parenting at church, whatever their stated philosophy.