In writing this post, my hope is that our readers will be encouraged to view serving and teaching women and children as a noble task. I also hope that those who are currently serving as teachers of women and children will be inspired by some of the people who have inspired me by teaching children at our church.
I believe we need to be faithful to obey the Scriptures, which teach us to train up children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” as well as to hold out the Word of Life to people of all ages with whom we have opportunity. As part of obeying this call, I believe that women have a strategic role in the evangelism and discipleship of children. I do not want to take anything away from the command to fathers in Ephesians 6:4, which is quoted above. Earlier in that same passage, Paul reminds children to obey their parents, both father and mother. The word he uses in Ephesians 6:2 for parents is generic for parents. But in Ephesians 6:4, he uses the word for fathers specifically. While Paul’s reasons for addressing fathers are unclear, we know that fathers are not to neglect the upbringing of their children. (See my earlier post on fathers and mothers.) However, it is also clear that women have a strategic role to play in the evangelism and discipleship of children.
God uniquely equipped mothers physically to nourish their children, not only in the womb, but also in an extraordinary close bond of breastfeeding Whether or not a mother chooses to breastfeed her baby, her body is designed for that task. As part of the feeding routine, a mother is the first to discipline a child, training him or her to wake up and eat and not to bite her (or to accept a bottle)! Smiles are exchanged; feeding, whether by breast or bottle, is a very intimate time. How we treat little ones at this early phase can lay a foundation for a child’s personality and security, or lack thereof. Even after weaning, mothers remain intimately involved with their children. This time is impactful, and children are impressionable. Again, I write this not to detract from fathering, but to focus on the importance of how we all influence children.
So why don’t we zealously compete for time with children? So many of us think there are more important things to do with our time. We long for impact, but working with children is no less impactful than working with older people. The Bible gives us confirmation of the importance of careful instruction of children. Proverbs 22:6 teaches, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” While I don’t believe this verse assures us that all of our carefully raised children will believe, it still underscores the importance of instruction and discipline for our children. Conversely, child abuse and neglect can have long term consequences. I benefited greatly from the persistent sense I got from my mother, in particular, that she delighted in us and prioritized raising her children in how she used her time. She did not give us a sense that she viewed us as an interruption to more important things she wanted to do with her life. I believe her delight in me gave me a foundational confidence as I interact with people, a hopefulness that I can love and be loved by others.
Like mothers, teachers have significant influence on children, too. Many of us remember all our lives a teacher who cared for us. I remember the daughter of some friends at church, who was a lovely little girl. When she started kindergarten, I asked her how she liked school. She said something very positive and explained, “My teacher knows my name!.” At church, I have seen little children as they file into the sanctuary to perform a song look over at their Sunday School teacher with adoration, beaming because their teacher is watching them.
There are four women at church whom I admire for their tireless work with children. The first is Melissa Johnsen, who is also a school teacher by vocation. Melissa has taught the one to two-year-old toddlers for a number of years. Melissa has modest goals for the kids, lessons which are very simple theologically, coupled with behavior goals – teaching kids to sit still (briefly), not hit, share, etc. I asked Melissa if she feels her teaching is valued, and she answered that she doesn’t spend time thinking about whether the church values her. Melissa serves with her gifts as a teacher and has a love for children. I was humbled! What a wonderful ally Melissa is to parents of toddlers!
Melissa turns the two year olds over to a second woman I admire – her mom, Jackie Johnsen. Jackie has opportunity to build on Melissa’s foundation and teach simple Gospel lessons. It is challenging to teach the Gospel to children accurately, and Jackie often runs her ideas by her husband, Pete, to arrive at the best ways to teach simply but truthfully about God’s love and grace. Pete is not only her consultant, but he has often been an extra set of hands in the room as well. The two year olds love Jackie and Pete. Jackie and Pete and Melissa spent 8 years as missionaries to Burkina Faso, way back in the 1990’s. These three and the rest of their family are some of the heroes of my faith from my early years of adult faith and marriage. There is consistency to both arenas of ministry – serving a very poor country in Africa with their medical skills – Pete was a doctor; Jackie was a nurse – and serving one and two year-olds. There is not a long line of folks waiting for these jobs.
A third woman I admire is Mary McCormack. Mary served our church for 22 years as the director of ministries to women and children. Mary has a seminary degree, the same seminary degree which qualifies a man to be a senior pastor. When Mary graduated from seminary, she thought to herself that with her degree she was qualified for the same pastoral ministry as a man, but was only considered for ministry positions for women and children within evangelical churches at the time. She took the job at Stone Hill Church (then Westerly Road Church) and did a wonderful job. Mary described to me the epiphany she had when her children reached Sunday School age. She quickly realized she wanted highly qualified, theologically wise teachers for her children, which made her realize that her seminary degree was not being wasted in ministry to children. Mary was instrumental in selecting good curriculum for K-6th grade Sunday School, sifting through the options which range from bad content (too watered down, theologically unsound) to good content. I asked Mary 2 ½ years ago if the Stone Hill kids were getting any teaching on the biblical view of race, because I was just then coming to the realization that our churches need to have teaching about race and justice at every level of our discipleship program. Mary had already thought this through and had identified and supplied the curriculum on justice and race to be used in the regular rotation of topics. What a wonderful impact our churches could have on our world if all of our children were trained up to see the doing of justice as an integral part of the Christian life!
Finally, there is Karen. Today, if you google the name “Karen” you might come up with articles about entitled white women. Karen Ristuccia does not live an entitled life. She is one of the most hard-working people I know. She has devoted her entire career to the education of children, both in school and Sunday school. Karen graduated with highest honors from Princeton University, and has earned an MDiv and a DMin since then – all so that she can invest in the education and discipleship of the next generation of Christians. She is constantly improving on what she has already done, always seeking to stay current with her teaching. I asked Karen once if she is concerned about her gifts and abilities being fully used teaching children. She replied that she is more concerned about the next generation and the maintenance of the Kingdom of God than about using her gifts.
These four women inspire me. They are servants of Christ, giving “a cup of cold water to little ones” in the name of Jesus. All of them feel a deep sense of purpose in their work, even if they are infrequently recognized. I am not writing to say that all we women can do at church is serve food (see this post) and teach children. I am not writing to say that all women must teach children. No. We have a variety of gifts and callings. Instead my purpose is for us to have a greater respect for those roles, a greater vision for the impact for eternity that those humble ministries create. That helps us do those ministries cheerfully, “knowing our labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)