Ask Bill: How To Involve Your Preschool Families
A question I’ve gotten a lot lately – How do we involve the families of our preschool more in the life of our congregation?
First of all, treat those families like they already belong. They belong to the preschool. They see that as an important ministry, but treat them like they already belong to the church. Even though they may not have formally gone through the membership process. This means you invite them to everything. You put them on your digital communication lists. You just assume they are part of the ministry and help them start to feel that way and act that way. That’s the first thing.
Second thing – make sure you and the preschool director and teachers are all on the same page of what the end game is. The end game is that these families become involved in the whole life of the congregation, not just in this little part of the preschool. So make sure everybody sees that’s the end game. You want all the school staff to contribute in moving those families towards that goal.
And third, you have to be present. You might say the church side of the house needs to be present in the preschool. You need to walk the halls, greet parents, and let parents know if they ever need anything, you’re here for them. And then I suggest asking, especially in the teaching of baptism, how can you as the pastor be the one who teaches baptism and invites children and their families into the life of the church through baptism?
