THE practice of parents taking their children to church is not now so common as it once was, and the discontinuance of this practice must be regarded as one of the unfavorable signs of the times. There are various causes, which, it is presumed, contribute to this result. One of these, perhaps, is a spirit of self-indulgence which inclines parents to take their ease on Sabbath morning, so that they have not sufficient time to prepare themselves and their children for church. Others, perhaps, suppose that as the children attend the Sabbath-school, which is often very improperly called “the children’s church,” that that is sufficient. Others, again, imagine that there is nothing in the public worship of God to interest the children, that they cannot join in the singing, and that they cannot understand the preaching. Others think that it is too much to require the children to attend both church and Sabbath-school, and, as they think they must go to Sabbath-school, they excuse them from attending the church. In consequence of these views but few children are found in church. The reasons assigned for not taking the children to church are not sufficient to justify parents in neglecting this duty. By a little forethought and previous arrangement, with but few exceptions, parents may, without depriving themselves of any needed rest on Sabbath morning, prepare themselves and their children for attendance upon the house of God. But should it require some effort to do so, the importance of the duty demands it. Parents are the natural guardians of their children. Their interests, both for this life and the life that is to come, are placed largely in their hands, and they should be willing, if necessary, to make sacrifices for their good. But the sacrifice required to prepare them for church service on Sabbath morning, certainly, cannot be very great. The fact that children attend the Sabbath-school is not a sufficient reason why they should not attend the church. The Sabbath-school is not a church. It can never supplant the church. It can never take the place of the church. But this fact does not detract from its importance and value as an auxiliary to the church, as an important help in promoting its interests and objects. The mere adjunct, the mere auxiliary, however, should not be permitted to take the place of the church, and in the estimation of parents and children be regarded as of greater importance than the church. But when attendance upon the Sabbath-school is deemed of greater importance than attendance upon the church, the proper order is inverted, and, in the estimation of children, the less becomes the greater, and the greater becomes the less. But there need be no conflict between the church and the Sabbath-school. All that is necessary is for their relative claims to be duly recognized, and each to receive the consideration which its importance demands. The church should foster the Sabbath-school, and the Sabbath-school should aid, in every possible way, the church; and one of the most effectual ways in doing this, is to teach the children the importance of attending upon the public worship of God in his house, and so arrange its times of meeting as not to render this impracticable. If the church and the Sabbath-school are placed in competition, which should never be the case, the church, where the ordinances of divine appointment are observed, should have the preference. The more important should be preferred to the less important. The assumption that the attendance of children upon the public worship of God neither interests nor profits them, is certainly without foundation. Although they may not be able to participate in much of the service, and may hear much that they do not understand, yet the sacredness of the place, its associations, the spirit of reverence and worship which surrounds653them, and an occasional truth from sermon or from song that fixes itself in their minds, cannot fail to be productive of good. The worship of God’s house tends to excite reflection, to quicken thought, to develop capacity, and, under the influence of the divine Spirit, to draw even young hearts to God. The worship of God is not intended for a certain class of persons, or for persons of a certain age, but for all classes and for all ages—for parents and children, for old and young. God’s Spirit can make his truth plain to the trusting hearts of children, when many persons more advanced in years cannot understand it. The numerous instances of children being converted to God is a demonstration of this.—Methodist Recorder.