Family Ministries is taking over the Pastor’s Corner this week, and I’ll be honest, my first instinct was to fill this whole thing with pictures and updates and all the things we have coming up this fall. And maybe I’ll do that next time. But there’s something I keep thinking about:
I want our kids to feel like they belong here.
Not just because we tell them they belong. I want them to experience it.
I want a child to walk down the hallway on a Sunday morning and have somebody call their name. I want a teenager to be asked about something they mentioned two weeks ago, the game, the tryout, the situation with a friend, and actually remember to ask about it. I want our kids to grow up thinking of Pittman Park not as a place their family drags them to, but as their place.
I want our kids to be seen, known, and loved, not just by the Family Ministries team, but by Pittman Park.
That’s the thing I can’t stop thinking about. Even though our volunteers are absolutely outstanding, Family Ministries can’t make that happen by itself.
It takes the whole church.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” — Hebrews 12:1
I think about that verse from Hebrews, this image of being surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, and honestly, that’s the picture I want for every child and teenager at Pittman Park. Not just a cool youth group. Not just a great children’s program. A whole congregation of people cheering them toward Jesus.
Think about your own story for a second. Who knew your name growing up? Who was the person, maybe a teacher, an older woman who always sat in the same pew, a neighbor, someone’s grandparent who sort of adopted everyone, who noticed you?
Maybe they didn’t do anything dramatic. Maybe they just asked about school every single week or slipped you a piece of candy or prayed for you without ever telling you they were doing it. But somehow, that person became part of your story. I want that for our kids.
So here’s the goal I’m asking us to work toward together:
I want every child and teenager who regularly attends Pittman Park to have at least five adults in this congregation who really know them.
Not just recognize their face. Know their name. Know something about what’s going on in their life. Notice when they aren’t there.
Five people who could say, without hesitating, “Yeah, I know that kid.”
Because one day, and I mean this, one day that teenager might need an adult who isn’t Mom or Dad. One day a child might start wondering whether any of this really matters. Life is going to get hard for these kids, and they will need people around them when it does.
If you agree, then you’re qualified to be one of those five people.
You don’t have to teach. You don’t have to chaperone a lock-in. (Although, truly, bless the people who do.) You don’t have to understand a single word of the slang our teenagers are using right now. You just have to be willing to notice.
Learn a name. Ask a question. Remember the answer long enough to bring it up next week. Sit by a family at Open Table. Tell a kid you were glad to see them in worship. That’s it. That’s where it starts.
I also want to say something directly to our men, from the bottom of my heart, We need you!!
Children’s Ministry and Youth Ministry are not just for moms and grandmas. It’s important for our children to know that the men of the church care about them, too.
They need your stories. They need your prayers. They need to see what it looks like for men to show up for God. That is something no curriculum can teach them. Only your presence can teach that.
And of course, if you want to take a bigger step and volunteer with Family Ministries programming, let’s talk. I promise I am not going to hand you a curriculum binder and say, “Congratulations, you’re teaching third grade for the rest of your life.” That is not how this works.
There are so many ways to show up: You can help with a meal. You can come on a trip. You can assist with a special event. You can serve alongside our kids on a mission project. Or you can just be there consistently enough that a child starts to expect to see you. And that is more powerful than you might think. Because we aren’t trying to staff programming. We are trying to make sure every child in this building has a cloud of witnesses surrounding them.
Someday, I hope they look back and they can name the people at Pittman Park who helped them know Jesus.
I hope you’re one of their five.