Mary Ann Pollock, Baltimore, Maryland

As we all know, in our Lutheran schools and centers the one component that makes us different is the faith component. This is something for which we should never apologize! At St. John’s Christian Day School in Baltimore, a school and day care center for two year olds through fifth graders, I always address this issue with parents when I am interviewing them. In our situation, 67% of our children come from unchurched families. It is our belief that even though the children do not have a faith background, the parents wish for their children to have exposure to Christian ethics; that is one reason they choose St. John’s.

We, of course, also have children who have been attending church weekly with their families from the time they were born. Because of this wide variety of experiences, it becomes necessary to take the children where they are and work on developing deeper faith at whatever level. As we all know, we just plant the seeds of faith. We may see some of them mature; many may not mature until long after the children have left our school. We understand that it is our task to plant the seeds. The rest is up to God.

We are in the unique position of having a religion teacher at St. John’s. We have adapted the Graceways materials (a curriculum published by Augsburg Fortress for use in Lutheran day schools and centers) so that she teaches a lesson each week and provides extensions of her lessons to each teacher so that she or he can expand upon the lesson in the classroom. This procedure has worked very well for us this past year.

How do we, as a staff, help in faith development? The most important thing we can do is to show that our faith is important to us. We know that we are here to show God’s love through our examples to our students. Each child is honored and unconditionally accepted. We discuss differences—all of us, students and staff, have strengths and weaknesses. All of our children understand and “feel” that they are loved by God and by our staff. This “feeling” allows each child to be willing to try new tasks without fear of failure. At the same time, each child is expected to work to the best of his/her ability.

Each of our classrooms has a worship center. Each day each class, at some point, will have a devotion time. Some classes begin the day with devotions to set the tone for the day; other classes will close their day with devotions so that the children go home with this “feeling.” In the devotions we emphasize three areas: prayer, worship, and Bible stories. The age and development of the children in the class determines the emphasis by the teacher. Even in our youngest classes, we learn to pray. The children learn that prayers can be long or short, they can be prayed anytime and anyplace, they can ask for help or support or be prayers of joy and thanksgiving. As the children get older, prayer concerns are listed in the worship center during the day. These are then used in the formal devotions. The children take home these concerns for their family or private devotions.

At St. John’s, we learn to worship in several settings. The children have adjusted to this. Of course, we have a formal worship service once a week in church. It is a great honor, one that the young children aspire to, to participate as an acolyte or reader. We have a chorus that the children also cannot wait to join. It is important to the children to feel that they are part of the leadership of this worship service. Our children have a feeling of comfort in God’s house. In each classroom the teachers develop their own devotions depending on the level of the children. In our religion class, we help the children understand what is happening during worship services. One of the most important parts of any of our worship services is music. It is most unusual for any child to not like to sing. Even the older boys, who profess that they do not like to sing, will be seen singing when they think no one is looking. Music reaches all of us at some subliminal level. It is an important part of our worship.

Bible stories are presented in several formats. The young children need to hear the stories. The older children read the stories from the Bible. Have you ever seen the face of a child who has just read a beloved Bible story from the Bible for the first time? It is awe-inspiring.

We live in the real world. We are all called to serve. At St. John’s we help the children understand that God loves all people and that He calls us to help our neighbors. In conjunction with St. John’s Church we collect food for the needy in our community at Thanksgiving and give toys to a local housing project at Christmas. The children are encouraged to earn the money for their contributions of toys. We also encourage volunteerism in the community and in the school. We want our children to feel that they are making a difference in God’s world.

At St. John’s EACH child develops a sense of belonging to our school family, and of course, to God’s family. Each child knows that he/she is accepted by God and by us. Each child, therefore, is free to explore and develop a self-image that allows him/her to develop personally, intellectually, morally, and spiritually.

Mary Ann Pollock serves as principal of St. John’s Christian Day School in Baltimore, Maryland, and may be reached by e-mail at MaryAnnKPollock@aol.com.

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