Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

In the middle of the science fair/book fair/fine arts fair, time to visit the school night, we ran into a couple from our church.

I was surprised. Their kids are grown and in master’s programs around the country. They don’t have grandkids or nieces and nephews. I wondered what brought them to the elementary school on a brisk but sunny Tuesday night.

Their answer was simple: they came to see our daughter’s science project. And the project by another fifth grader from our church. The robot from a first grader in the cherub choir and the Underground Railroad quilt square by our son and other second graders.

They came just to support the kids of the church.

I gave that sentence its own paragraph for a reason – and I’ll repeat it for emphasis. They came just to support the kids of the church. 

Those of us hip-deep in church work are always looking for the magic elixir for growing the church, for creative ways to attract young people and new families through our red doors. Sometimes the answer is as deceptively simple as this: caring and supporting one another. 

Our daughter expected us to meander through the classroom rows, oohing and aahing at the various science projects. We are her parents. It’s a perk of the job. 

But her face lit up when she learned the couple came to see her work. Not because they had to, but because they cared. 

We spend a lot of time creating materials that can deepen our faith and prod us into deeper discipleship -- and those are vitally important. But when it comes to strengthening our churches, this couple knows the secret. It’s about caring. It’s about showing up. It’s about being in relationship. 

Hillary Clinton gets a lot of credit for her book, “It takes a village.” And she’s right. 

But it would be good to also remember the original source: the great commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself.