Follow this ministry’s lead to partner with schools and bless them with the love of Jesus.
Last June, I was having lunch at our church in New Hope, Minnesota, with six principals from four local public schools. Three were retiring, so our ministry invited them for lunch to show appreciation for their service to our community. Two of their replacements also attended. Our hope was to keep alive the very special relationship we’d developed with these schools.
After a feast of Italian food, I asked the retiring principals to share their fondest memories from their years at the schools. I was surprised when all three politely refused. “Instead,” said one, “let’s talk about how we’re going to continue the partnership between New Hope Church and our school.” The others nodded in agreement.
I was amazed—and delighted. Over the next hour, we discussed ways our children’s ministry and local public schools could partner. Most people in ministry might think such a conversation was rare. But one retiring principal said to me, “We need the church. Children need a moral influence.” By the end of lunch, we’d all renewed our commitment to work together.
Friends in Need: Why We Partner With Schools
As we cleaned up, I silently praised God for how he’d opened the door in just one year to this remarkable relationship. Twelve months earlier, our ministry was pondering ways to renew our commitment to our community. God had redirected us to focus on opportunities and needs close to home.
In June, our children’s ministry team drew a circle on the map around our church. We asked God where he wanted us to focus. It wasn’t long before we felt called to visit the closest elementary school as a starting point.
So Joanne Lundberg, our elementary staff coordinator, and I made an appointment to meet Principal Lois Nordling. We explained that we wanted to partner with schools and provide tangible support. But we weren’t certain how best to do that.
Principal Nordling expressed gratitude—and then asked what social agency or club we were from. When we said, “New Hope Church, just a few blocks away,” she smiled. “Well,” she said, “I’ve always believed that the entire community should be involved in education.”
Two weeks later, we took the principal and her assistant to lunch. We asked, “What do you really need at your school? What would be useful?” The list included things such as help putting in a playground, tutors for students, school supplies for the fall, funding, and more. We took the list and a few other ideas back to our ministry. Then the children got busy.
A Gift Indeed: Kids Love to Partner With Schools
First our kids initiated a school-supply drive to raise money for supplies and backpacks. We collected milk caps and coupons. Amazingly, with these items the school earns up to $10,000 a year to purchase supplies.
Then we recruited volunteers for the school’s summer programs and committed to advertising the school’s future volunteer needs to our congregation. We even recruited people to build the playground. One volunteer noticed that the school’s landscaping needed tending, so we added that to our list. Even our young adults got on board and sponsored a backpack drive.
The day we were scheduled to build the playground, it rained. Even so, more than 30 of our volunteers showed up and finished by noon. Half our volunteers weeded and worked on planters around the school. Our team was so efficient that the school coordinator had to call all the school’s parent volunteers scheduled for that afternoon and tell them to stay home. We’d accomplished everything on the agenda.
Our kids raised enough money to fill two large cabinets with school supplies. Plus, they added $500 to the field-trip fund for kids who couldn’t afford the fees. They also brought in enough milk caps and coupons to help the school get another $2,000 in equipment. When our young adults finished their backpack drive, they’d filled more than 30 backpacks to overflowing—and gave the school the extra supplies, worth another $2,000.
Afterward, our ministry did one more thing to keep our relationship going: We adopted the teachers. Now every month our ministry brings a gift box into the teachers’ lounge—apples, muffins, granola bars, hot chocolate packs. We include a note that New Hope Church loves and appreciates teachers.
