You can tell it’s getting close when the supermarkets transform into school supply depots. Yellow buses flood the streets, practicing routes. Each afternoon, the melody of the halftime show booms through the air as the marching band rehearses over and over again. Social media becomes a never-ending parade of smiling faces and first-day outfits.
With a new school year comes new opportunities to engage your community with the gospel. While churches should prayerfully consider whether the Lord would have them use their facilities for Christian education, public schools are integral to our communities. With a national enrollment over 10 times that of private schools, pastors and ministry leaders, concerned about the lost, simply can’t afford to ignore these mission fields.
But, with barriers to entry created by the nature of the schools, where should one start? Here are five inroads to begin engaging the public schools in your area:
- Adopt Teachers
Teachers often feel overwhelmed and underappreciated. Consider remedying this by “adopting” the teachers in a grade level or content department. Hold a bake sale to raise money for classroom supplies. Provide breakfast for department meetings. Send them pick-me-ups and treats during finals week or the vacation-less stretch between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Ask for loads you can lighten. Plan as many touches as possible, each time building relational equity.
- Be the Go-To
Public schools are cross-sections of our communities. Kids come from every conceivable situation: unabashedly affluent to struggling to put food on the table—picture-perfect nuclear families to broken, abusive homes. Schools are often the first to know when kids and their families go through hardships and calamities. Contact school leadership, volunteering your church as a first-call when needs arise.Maybe your building could serve as a shelter when freezing temperatures get dangerous. Set up a WiFi network to give kids access to the internet to complete assignments. Assist the school in stocking and running a clothes closet. Find out if a school family needs help getting the water turned back on. Meet tangible needs to create relationships that can meet our great eternal need.
- Support Students
The school-age years are some of our most pivotal, and many students struggle to cope with the challenges they present. Situations are made even more difficult by parental absenteeism. As school leaders try to help students cross the graduation finish line, they intervene and attempt to deal with the factors contributing to a lack of student success. But they can only do so much.Reach out to a school principal and volunteer your time to meet with at-risk students regularly. Does your church have a wealth of faithful men who led their families well? What about older women who can speak wisdom? Enlist these older saints to join you and provide stability, dependability, and Godly influence in a young person’s life.
- Chaplain a Team
While football dominates the headlines, most schools have dozens of overlooked sports teams and extracurriculars led by coaches and directors who would love an investment of time and attention. These leaders set up practice, organize logistics, and game plan for competitions. However, their most important responsibility transcends the normal relationship between students and teachers: coaches know their players and speak into their lives in a way that isn’t possible or welcome in a classroom environment.And that’s where you come in. Volunteer as an assistant coach or as a logistics coordinator. Get to know the coach and the players. Be there for the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Help in any way you can. Become part of the team and look for open doors.
- Flood the School
While certified teachers make up most of the workforce, the backbone of any given school is its support staff: cafeteria workers, bus drivers, office clerks, janitors, and hall monitors. And there isn’t a school in existence that doesn’t need more substitute teachers.Make an effort to flood a public school in your area with your people. What church wouldn’t jump at the chance to have missionaries from their pews embedded into a mission field—and to have them be paid for it? Under the right circumstances, retirees, stay-at-home moms of school-age kids, and church staff are all potential “missionaries” to be sent into public schools. And, when they’re there, they need to do whatever they are tasked to do—clean bathrooms, file paperwork, follow sub plans— do it to the glory of God! Work with excellence. Everything should be done to show the people in the school the love of Jesus so they’ll be ready to hear about it.
Find Your Place on Mission