Minute for Mission: Educate a Child, Transform the World

October 20, 2024

Educate a Child – DREEAM House

During my first year as a pastor, there were certain milestones I knew to look forward to. I looked forward to the first time I stood at the Communion table and invited my congregation to share in the feast, and the first time I marked an infant with water and proclaimed how much God loved her in baptism. I looked forward to my first Christmas and first sunrise Easter service. But there were other firsts that I didn’t know about that caught me off guard with their beauty.

One of these unexpected firsts was when the first day of school rolled around in my town. I was able to call or text each of my children and youth and hear about how their new school year started. I got text messages from high school freshmen with concerns about how far they have to get between classes. I talked to a brand-new second grader about how much she already loved her new teacher and how her class gets to go to the library twice each week.

Educate a Child Daycare at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church

These check-ins felt as sacred as the regular rituals of worship. I was letting these young people know that the love their church family has for them extends beyond the walls of the church.

Our love for our schoolchildren extends into their education. It extends into collecting supplies so that all the children in their school have what they need. It extends into attending school board meetings to make sure schools are safe and equitable places. Our love for these children may even send us all the way to the statehouses, to the Senate, to the U.N. advocating for children to be safe and be able to learn and grow everywhere.

And if our love for these children can extend so far and reach out in so many directions, it is amazing to imagine how much wider, deeper, stronger and more powerful God’s love for them extends.

As a pastor and an advocate for education, one of the ways I serve our denomination is on the Educate a Child Roundtable. In this group, we gather to equip, educate and empower churches to support education on the local and national level through direct support and advocacy. For more information, you can reach out to the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson in the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

Rev. Beth Olker, Pastor, Macedonia Presbyterian Church, Field Staff, Racial Equity and Women’s Intercultural Ministries, PMA Member, Educate a Child Roundtable

Today’s Focus: Educate a Child, Transform the World

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Emma Teichert, International Young Adult Volunteer, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Clayton Thomas, VP, Sales & Relationship Management, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program 

Let us pray

Holy God, since the moment you placed people into your world, you have taught us lessons of compassion, justice, mercy and hope. We pray that the schools in this nation and around the world would be safe places where children of all ages can grow and learn and thrive. Keep helping us extend our love and our hope into the lives of the children we call beloved and the schools we call neighbors. Bless the teachers and staff, the students and parents, and make us all partners in your kingdom work. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Educate a Child, Transform the World

October 15, 2023

Educate a Child – DREEAM House

During my first year as a pastor, there were certain milestones I knew to look forward to. I looked forward to the first time I stood at the Communion table and invited my congregation to share in the feast, and the first time I marked an infant with water and proclaimed how much God loved her in baptism. I looked forward to my first Christmas and first sunrise Easter service. But there were other firsts that I didn’t know about that caught me off guard with their beauty.

One of these unexpected firsts was when the first day of school rolled around in my town. I was able to call or text each of my children and youth and hear about how their new school year started. I got text messages from high school freshmen with concerns about how far they have to get between classes. I talked to a brand-new second grader about how much she already loved her new teacher and how her class gets to go to the library twice each week.

These check-ins felt as sacred as the regular rituals of worship. I was letting these young people know that the love their church family has for them extends beyond the walls of the church.

Educate a Child Daycare at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church

Our love for our schoolchildren extends into their education. It extends into collecting supplies so that all the children in their school have what they need. It extends into attending school board meetings to make sure schools are safe and equitable places. Our love for these children may even send us all the way to the statehouses, to the Senate, to the U.N. advocating for children to be safe and be able to learn and grow everywhere.

And if our love for these children can extend so far and reach out in so many directions, it is amazing to imagine how much wider, deeper, stronger and more powerful God’s love for them extends.

As a pastor and an advocate for education, one of the ways I serve our denomination is on the Educate a Child Roundtable. In this group, we gather to equip, educate and empower churches to support education on the local and national level through direct support and advocacy. For more information, you can reach out to the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson in the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

Rev. Beth Olker, Pastor, Macedonia Presbyterian Church, Field Staff, Racial Equity and Women’s Intercultural Ministries, PMA Member, Educate a Child Roundtable

Today’s Focus: Educate a Child, Transform the World

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
David Myers, Director, Finance, Board of Pensions
Lisa Myers, Communications Specialist, Presbyterian Association of Musicians

Let us pray

Holy God, since the moment you placed people into your world, you have taught us lessons of compassion, justice, mercy and hope. We pray that the schools in this nation and around the world would be safe places where children of all ages can grow and learn and thrive. Keep helping us extend our love and our hope into the lives of the children we call beloved and the schools we call neighbors. Bless the teachers and staff, the students and parents, and make us all partners in your kingdom work. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Educate a Child, Transform the World

October 18, 2020

“Beginning with John Calvin’s support of free schools, people of the Reformed tradition have always affirmed the value of education and its potential to transform lives and systems.” — PC(USA) Policy Statement “Loving Our Neighbors: Equity and Quality in Public Education”

Presbyterians have always supported public education. Jesus calls us to love God with “heart, soul and mind.” Our Reformed tradition affirms education as one way we develop our mind and one way we love God. The PC(USA)’s most recent policy statement on public education stands in that tradition and recognizes “that quality public schools are essential to our society’s efforts to overcome poverty and address social inequality.” The policy statement states that “quality public schools offer a holistic education, one that equips our children to live both meaningful and productive lives. A quality public school … is a place where they learn to think critically and become effective citizens, where they gain an appreciation for the sweep of human history and for the arts. Public schools are one place where children and young people can learn about their own bodies, how to be healthy and stay fit.” The study acknowledges the role of private and charter schools while affirming that quality public schools impact most of our children. Loving our neighbor means loving our neighbors’ children and supporting the public schools, even if we do not have children attending those schools.

The Educate a Child Roundtable (which grew out of the Educate a Child, Transform the World initiative launched at the 221st General Assembly in Detroit in 2014) is working to encourage and resource Presbyterian congregations around issues related to public schools. The roundtable has written and approved the “Educate a Child Covenant.” It is in the process of developing resources. This covenant will be a way that congregations can publicly commit to actively supporting public education and become part of a network of congregations who share that commitment.

There are many ways that congregations can support public education, including recognizing and affirming educators and students in worship at the beginning of the school year, providing resources to teachers who purchase supplies with their own money, starting a before- or after-school learning center and supporting legislation that improves schools. On the presbytery level, committee member Renee Danyo reports that in 2018, the Presbytery of Detroit launched an Educate a Child Workgroup. The workgroup aims to network congregations within the Presbytery of Detroit to provide direct services and to advocate for public education. In October 2019, the workgroup hosted its first workshop to educate, encourage and support congregations to become active in building and fostering relationships with schools in communities with high poverty and advocate to support public education.  

For more information on the Educate a Child Roundtable or Covenant, contact Alonzo Johnson at alonzo.johnson@pcusa.org or Dave Brown at dbrown7086@aol.com.

Rev. Dave Brown, Member of the Educate a Child Roundtable and Co-Author of the Public Education Policy Statement “Loving Our Neighbors: Equity and Quality in Public Education”

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Meg Rift, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Kathryn Riley, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray:

Gracious God, we are thankful for the teachers and the schools that helped shape us on our journey. We remember them in silence [pause]. Grant us wisdom and courage to engage our community and work for quality public education for all children. In Jesus’ name, amen.