Family Involvement in Preschool Ministry

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” 

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

There are 168 hours in every week.  If a child attends every single event held at the church, they may spend 3-4 of those hours in our ministry programs. As ministry leaders, we know that 4 hours out of 168 is simply not enough time spent pointing kids to Jesus. What does that mean for the way we do ministry?

If our ministry model is to do all we can to program in a way that makes us the most meaningful spiritual leaders in a child’s life, we have sadly missed the opportunity to come alongside parents and equip them to disciple their families in the way that Deuteronomy 6 calls them to. This requires intentionally focusing as much of our effort on parents as we do on their preschoolers.

Practically, there are a few ways that ministry leaders can encourage and equip parents to be the leaders God has called them to be. 

Discipling

Many of the parents have a desire to lead their families and point them to Jesus, but lots of them simply don’t know how to do it.  The first step in helping parents rise to the challenge of being the primary spiritual leaders in their families is to make sure they know what that looks like. I have found that parents are oftentimes way more willing than they seem, they just don’t know where to start. As ministry leaders, we get to be the ones that help them know that discipling their kids doesn’t come with a typed out formula, but simply from seeking the Lord themselves and teaching their children out of the overflow. 

Communicating

In order to follow up with what kids have learned at church, parents need to have access to what is being taught.  This can come in the form of take-home pages, emails, newsletters, and social media. Each method of communicating with parents needs to include not only information, but also how to use it to have spiritual conversations in the day to day routines of their families.  We want to make sure our communication with parents helps them understand that the teaching at church is only a small fraction of the equation when it comes to pointing kids to Jesus. We want them to know that the 2-4 hours they spend with us is simply not enough. 

Encouraging

In order to have parents who are discipling their children in the way God has called them to, we have got to be their loudest cheerleaders. Not only do we want parents to know the importance of their calling to lead their families, we want them to know we are cheering them on all along the way and we believe they can do it because this is a role God has designed them for. We want them to know that God’s desire is that their families experience Jesus, and no effort they spend on that is wasted. 

Author: Emily Barber is the Preschool Discipleship Director at Colonial Heights Baptist Church in Ridgeland, MS.