See You at the Curb

As the school year revs up, I am reminded of the tradition I participated in as a student, See You at the Pole™, which takes place on September 24th this year. Christian students participate in this prayer meeting by gathering before the bell rings at the flagpoles on their campuses to pray over their school, peers, teachers and faculty for the year. It reminded us students that faith is not only a right and privilege to practice in the public square, but also a responsibility to wield with grace and compassion for those we encounter every day.

Nowadays, I am no longer a student. I am a proud mother of a toddler and a second child due in December. While preschool and afterschool care is not part of our family’s routine yet, I have become very aware that we churches are not thinking about the privilege and responsibility we have in stewarding ministries to young families in our immediate neighborhoods…right under our stained-glass windows.

Many churches rely on child development and care centers to help subsidize their mortgages or even employ or partner with church member staff and parents. Some of the most reputable, long-standing preschools I know are a stone’s-throw from my home and operated by, or at least within, churches. And, in a US population where about half of adults “seldom or never attend religious services,” it’s a fact that fewer people are walking through church doors, whether in seeking Jesus or out of a once-expected social obligation for the local watering hole news (Pew Research Center, February 26, 2025). So, when areligious parents are entrusting their most treasured persons into the hands of a church…are we, the church, meeting them at the curb?

According to a report issued April 29, 2026 by the Center for American Progress, nearly half of children under 6 live where there are too few licensed slots for the number of children who need care (see childcaredeserts.org for an interactive map to see where your home lands). Apart from statistics, I see the childcare and early childhood education crisis firsthand among my fellow parents: waitlists for preschools, pricey daycares, and forced financial sacrifices that come with having to choose between working and finding not only supervision for your child, but also qualified, quality care for your child.

We churches can lead the way in living out the love of the Gospel in providing quality, licensed, and affordable childcare. When congregations minister to and subsidize young families that come to their preschools, child development centers, and afterschool programs, they are not only emphasizing children as a worthwhile and critical part of the church, but also setting out to reach and support the families searching, whether intentionally or not, for loving communities exemplifying Christ.

When students pray at the flagpole, the aim is to love and minister to fellow students and school staff. So, I ask, when we churches accept these families at the curb at drop-off, are we also ministering to them? Have the parents shaken hands with a pastor and been prayed with—regardless of their religious affiliation? Are the teachers being equipped as ministers of the church to disciple their childcare staff and the families they encounter daily? Do the parents feel that our church is a safe place they turn to if and when their lives turn upside down? Is our church seeing kids not as the future church, but the church now? 

Evangelism is the first stage of discipleship when Jesus deploys each of his ambassadors to offer to walk alongside the lost before we can invite them to walk with Him. As the saying goes, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Churches have always had the task to build bridges through intentional relationships with all generations for the sake of making Christ known. Just like the Lord called Philip to meet the Ethiopian on the side of the road to meet him where he was—our commission is not limited to church walls or even the flagpole. Instead, let us vow never to kick someone to the curb, but simply walk the extra steps to meet them there instead.

Claire McAuliffe, Guest Writer

Dover Communications &  Operations Manager