“Let the Children Come. . . . But Will the Adults Follow?”

            “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!” We have all heard that proverbial advice and perhaps experienced it for good or bad in our lives. In the spirit of that axiom, some are asking if the congregations of the WELS are beginning to put all their “evangelism eggs” in “one basket” called early childhood ministries.

Without question ECM is the fastest growing segment of ministry among WELS churches and schools. At a time when many Lutheran elementary schools are shrinking and even closing, the explosive growth among early childhood ministries has been a source of optimism for many in our synod. Although the enrollment numbers are encouraging, many are left asking whether WELS early childhood ministries can fulfill their outreach promise. In other words, will our preschools be an effective tool for reaching adults with the gospel of Jesus, in addition to the children they serve? And will early childhood ministries also become a source of numeric growth for the congregations that operate them?

            Before we debate how effective early childhood ministries are for outreach and whether they can indeed be a source of adult prospects for congregations, it is important for us to remember some basic truths about evangelism. The Bible tells us that the growth of God’s kingdom is totally up to the Holy Spirit working through the Word and Sacraments. And since God himself tells us that his Word is powerful and effective and will accomplish his purposes, we can be sure that at the early childhood ministries where Scripture is shared, souls are being touched with the gospel. But are those congregations that operate an ECM going to have additional opportunities to use the Holy Spirit’s tools in the lives of the adults who entrust their children to their care?

Going back to the longstanding advice of not relying on one basket for all one’s eggs, it would be shortsighted for any congregation to rely solely on their ECM for their evangelism. Only when a congregation operates an ECM as part of a larger plan for outreach can they reasonably hope that their preschool will fulfill its outreach promise. It will provide opportunities to share the gospel with the families of the ECM students if it is part of a more comprehensive outreach strategy.

Consider this. If the statistics are true that the majority of people who join a church do so because someone they know invited them, then we need to see our early childhood ministries as a way for our staff and church members to become people that our ECM parents know and trust. We can then expect opportunities to invite those parents to become part of our church family.

From my experience I believe a congregation that operates an early childhood ministry must continually ask itself some pointed questions. “Is sharing the Word of God with our ECM students the ultimate objective in our preschool?” and “What are we doing to build relationships with the adults who bring their children to us?” Although it may seem that I am oversimplifying things, I do believe it is that simple. At the congregation where I serve, we have preschool “roundups” and “fun nights” where I and the preschool staff can interact with the adults. We also regularly invite our preschool parents to our PTS events. Once again this gives our staff and LES parents an opportunity to get to know them. From time to time we invite our preschoolers to sing in our worship services. Each week one of the pastors shares a short children’s message with the preschool students.

We have found that as we share the Word of God with the children, the adults do follow.  They follow with their questions about “spiritual things,” as they might say. And as God has promised, when we answer with the Scriptures, those adults are frequently drawn into a relationship with God through Christ. Not all, but many, of our recent adult confirmations and professions of faith have come from our ECM. Although only the Holy Spirit is responsible for the conversion of souls and the growth of Christ’s kingdom, we have seen how our preschool has provided us with the opportunities to use the Word of God to do its work. Yes, as we have let the children come to Jesus by sharing his gospel with them, we have seen the adults follow. Our ECM has fulfilled its outreach promise.

Written by Rev. Michael Otterstatter.

Rev. Otterstatter is pastor of St. John Ev. Lutheran Church, Redwood Falls MN. St. John’s preschool has 34 students, two-thirds of whom are not members of the church.