I have a dream to make our church nursery function at a higher capacity. Once I got started dreaming I was blown away by my ability to Dream. I started by wanting to get parents, aunties, grandmas, and youth volunteering in the nursery so that we could all take turns sitting in church and actually listening to the service. Now I want to punch holes in the wall, build toy boxes, add an entire room for nursing mothers, put in one-way windows, soundproofing, and the list goes on and on.
A few people have encouraged me. But the most frequent response I've gotten is, "I think somebody tried that a while back and it fell through". This response makes me angry. Why is it that people don't want to be involved in church? Why can't people commit to certain tasks? Do parents really not WANT to sit through church? If that's the case, we've got a bigger problem.
Apparently a few years ago, when surveyed (our church is a big fan of surveys), the church resoundingly responded that they would not USE scheduled nursery volunteers. So now, instead of having an organized nursery where parents can drop off their children, at least one parent for every child sits in the nursery and visits all through the service. Children play loudly, parents talk over their children, and inevitably the sermon is drowned out until the final song of the service when parents begin cleaning up and putting on coats.
If I get caught up in the failures of the past I can get very angry and I already feel a little ripped off that I haven't sat through a church service in over two years. So I need to keep my dreaming hat on, charge ahead with full steam. It's kind of like getting through a snow drift in the car. If you slow down because you're scared, you'll just get hopelessly stuck. But if you charge ahead, you'll pick up speed enough to carry you through the inevitable challenge, and out to the smooth driving on the other side. I won't stop dreaming. I will try to listen to my husband more (he's very rational, and thinks things through piece by piece - unlike me) and I must temper my enthusiasm in front of nay-sayers so as not to get too discouraged or angry (which has tended to be my final response to almost all my attempts at church involvement in the past).
Hey Laur- thank you for this encouraging post. Working at a church, sometimes I am amazed at how little parents want to be involved. . . so thank you for wanting to help your church! Dream big and keep me posted. Oh, and just a little note- the lightness of your new font makes it hard for me to read. . .LOVE! Auntie Lis
ReplyDeleteI am confused about nurseries in church. At our church in particular I get the impression the the nursery is for looks only. My child is the only one that goes, well the nursing mom's do too. But other than that all parents around us sit with their children, entertaining them, and trying to keep them silent, and occupied. We even have a toddler room for kids 2 and over. There are a few kids in there, the service is piped in on a tv screen and parents/grandparents do watch.
ReplyDeleteI encourage your enthusiasm, and as I was once told long ago, that 20% of the church population runs the other 80%. If this is infact so, be the 20%!
Keep plowing ahead. That's what we did with our children's ministry. It was mediocre at best, until I started to talk loudly about what could be done. Dreams need to be shared!
ReplyDeleteAnd sometimes people need to hear the good ideas more than once. If someone before you tried, maybe it's your job to be the final push. Seriously, scheduled nursery people is way better; and sorry parents, visiting time is for after church!
You go girl!!