Hey Mom, Look. There's My Pastor!

Pastor David Parks, Everett, Washington

Every once and a while I bump into a small child in the aisle at the grocery store, or in the line at the bank, or in the courtyard in front of the elementary school, or in the parking lot at church. Sometimes that child will smile with recognition, pull on the sleeve of a mother's jacket and point at me with the words, "Hey Mom look, there's my pastor!" Their delight and enthusiasm brings joy to my heart.

These chance encounters are not only personally gratifying and happy occasions for warm social contact, they are also the proof that our plan is working. We want kids in our community to recognize us. We want families to become familiar with the pastors and teachers on our staff. When they stop and say, "hello," it is one more sign that our conscious, deliberate plan to build bridges of trust, friendship and invitation with the families we serve in our preschool is actually working.

For fifteen years, our congregation has had a successful preschool ministry. It is successful, not because it always makes budget (it doesn't), not because we've never made a family mad (we have), not because we have full enrollment every year (we're usually close), and not because every member of our congregation is supportive of our preschool (they're not). I believe that our preschool ministry is a success because it is the single most effective way for our church to engage the community. We have success in communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ and an invitation to participate in the congregation's life and worship. It becomes an honest demonstration of supportive care for families with preschool aged children.

We do not have it all figured out. In fact, we are now in a process of rethinking some of our strategies and the ways certain activities take place. Still, after 15 years of risks, new initiatives, bumps in the road and several excellent mistakes, we have stumbled onto some discoveries:

We have been served by a director that is not only very good at her job, but one that also understands the larger purpose of preschool ministry. She knows we need to educate children, but she also knows that the preschool years are a very important time in a family's life. It is a time when they are especially receptive to spiritual nurture and renewal. Her conscious and deliberate interactions with these students and their parents is calculated to build bridges to the promise of God's love in Christ and to the community of God's people; the Church. She keeps this sensibility in mind as she leads staff, plans events and organizes the board.

Several times each month, classes move from their rooms into the Sanctuary for a 15 minute chapel service with the pastors of the congregation. We pray, we sing, we share a theme for the day and the students have a chance to talk to us.

We are now talking about expanding these worship gatherings to include Moms and Dads. Instead of a chapel time in the middle of the session, we wonder about moving it to the beginning of the day, so that those bringing kids to school could linger for a few extra minutes and share worship time with their children. We hope parents will make connections with us and have a positive, faith building experience in church themselves.

Several times a year, our kids attend events along with their parents. A Spring picnic in the local park, dad's pumpkin carving night, a Christmas pageant and reception, an Easter egg hunt and other events like these are all part of an annual calendar. As pastors, we go out of our way to be present for and help lead these gatherings. They have been times for conversation, new friendships and informal bridge building.

Our Director has championed the formation of several groups of moms for prayer, Bible study, play time for younger siblings and mutual support. As pastors, we have helped to lead, teach and offer encouragement during these sessions.

It has been wonderful to have time with parents during the Advent season, for instance, to talk about family devotions and making the holidays a chance for deeper reflection and spiritual attention. We've discovered that a lot of adults are hungry for support as the primary faith teachers in their homes.

Typically, about half of our preschool families are people without a church home. We are determined to communicate an authentic, warm and clear invitation to them to imagine our church as a safe haven for faith, care, worship and friendship. They need to hear from us at Christmastime, Easter, the beginning of the Sunday School year and during national emergencies. We mail letters, we send home flyers, we hang posters—but most of all, we attempt personal invitations through teachers, pastors and members of the congregation. What a shame it would be if a family never heard a word of "Welcome!" from us.

I used to think of our Preschool as an outside group that happened to be using our space for its own program. Like AA, or the Camp Fire Club, or the Retired Teacher's Association, they paid their fee and "borrowed" rooms on our campus for activities in which we had little or no interest. That was dumb!

Since then, I've been converted. I am now unabashedly enthusiastic about our preschool. In fact, I love to brag about it as our most

effective outreach to our community. We have more significant contact with more people in our neighborhood than by any other activity here at church.

That young child in the grocery store changed my mind. One little voice and a bright smile of trust and recognition "flipped a switch" in my head and I was converted.

We are on a mission to build bridges of welcome and invitation to the families we serve. Pastors, congregational leaders, preschool directors, board members, teachers and all those who have passion for the Gospel and an abiding concern for young children and their families may be the best and only hope many kids have to hear about Jesus and life in His name.

Hey Mom, look! It's a community of Christ's people that cares about me!

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