Do you have the financial resources to start a church daycare?
Next, you’ll need to pay salaries, purchase supplies and equipment, and cover insurance and licensing fees. Will the center make payments to the church for use of the building? Or will the church subsidize the center by not charging rent or utilities? What about providing scholarships to families in need? It might take several years for the center to establish itself financially.
Who will work in your program?
This is a major factor in deciding whether to open a center. Want your staff to have a vision for your ministry and a genuine love for kids? Then staff members should belong to your church and must affirm a personal faith in Christ. And daycare providers should be more interested in caring for children than talking with each other.
Setting Up a Church Daycare
After you decide to set up a daycare center, develop the purpose of your ministry. Why are you going to do this as a church? If you want to minister to families, this should be the entire congregation’s goal.
Develop a mission statement.
Most mission statements include the goal of meeting needs of children and families and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Your mission statement should also commit to high standards of excellence. Pledge to provide for the physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual well-being of children, regardless of racial, religious, or economic backgrounds.
Keep your written mission statement to two to four sentences. Give it to parents and church members. A written mission statement ensures a clear purpose.
Start small.
Offer only one class to begin. Then develop a sense of how to deal with issues that invariably arise. Later, when the program has grown, you’ll have a strong foundation to fall back on.
Our society today is a working society. Children need care, and opening a church daycare meets families’ needs. Not only can you meet children’s everyday needs; you can also introduce them to the gospel. When you open a church daycare, you’ll fulfill the command of Jesus, who said, “Let the little children come to me.”
Carla Williams is a freelance writer in Colorado.
This article was originally published on ChildrensMinistry.com, © Group Publishing, Inc.
