It’s very easy to go through the motions of a church service and not think about what you’re doing or why you’re doing it. Last week, we learned about the offertory: this week we learn about the nursery.

A church’s main goal and purpose is to reach others with the gospel. The pastor can give the most eloquent, Spirit-filled, convicting version of the gospel, but if the soul who needs it couldn’t hear because a child was crying or even just cooing, it will come to no good. The Word of God must reach the ears. Even the best behaved babies with the most experienced mamas can’t keep a younger child quiet all the time. Therefore, the nursery’s main purpose and goal is to see the salvation and spiritual growth of parents.

The nursery is also that child’s first experience with corporate worship. The peers gather, listen to godly songs, the toddlers receive a biblical message using forms of communication that they can comprehend, and they stay together for a certain period of time on at least the first day of the week.

For the nursery to be successful, you need the following:

1. The nursery worker must treat the nursery as a ministry. When you approach the nursery as an obligation, it becomes very easy to fall into bitter and resentful thought patterns. “I have nursery on the Sunday we have a special speaker again? Why am I the only person to ever clean up in here? These kids are driving me crazy today! Don’t parents ever train their kids?” When you approach the nursery as a ministry, it becomes very easy to use your work as a method of showing love. You reach out to parents who seem to be struggling, you love on kids who act unruly, you pray that God uses the time each child is in the nursery to grow the faith of their parents. Your entire countenance will change when you change your thought process about the nursery from a “have-to-be-stuck-here” to a “get-to-serve-the-Lord.” Can you imagine how concerned the parishioners would be if their pastor publicly and often complained about having to preach? That’s exactly how concerning it is to hear a nursery worker say that have to go serve with the little ones.
2. The nursery worker must have a clear leader and follow rules. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is talking to the church at Corinth about some practices that were going on in their church. He tells them in verse 14, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” In every ministry, but especially when dealing with young children, you must have a set, written list of rules and requirements that every member of the nursery staff follows. You also must have a set leader. These rules vary dramatically from church to church, but the nursery worker must be willing to follow these rules and know who to go to when there’s an issue. The leader then can hold others accountable and meet needs as they arise. If the requirement is that nursery workers be at their station at 15 minutes to the service, then they must be willing to submit to the rule set for the nursery and arrive 15 minutes to the service. Any purposed deviance from the rules set by the leader is simply an act of rebellion: it says to all others (parents, fellow nursery workers, the church staff) that that person is more important than the decency and orderly needs of others and God. A nursery never runs well if the rules are not followed. Romans 13:1-2 puts it this way, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.”
3. The nursery worker must be appreciated. I’ve had the pleasure of being a nursery worker in a small church and a big church. I was the only nursery worker for a year at a church plant; I was one of many, many workers at a larger, more established church. In every opportunity, I’ve found that nursery worker who are never thanked will burn out quickly. When no one is grateful for you work, it’s very easy to become bitter against your work and against the people that you are serving. It is the responsibility of the church members, and not merely the church leaders, to frequently thank and honor those who serve in the “backstage” areas of a ministry. We must honor those who you don’t see on the stage. 1 Corinthians 13: 23-25 states, “And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.” It’s very easy to show gratitude to the leaders in our church: the lead pastor, the music leader, the pianist, the best of the soloists, but God is much more glorified when we show honor to the people you don’t see up front serving. The children’s Sunday school teachers, the bus or van drivers, the little lady in the back of the church who spends all her day praying for members, the nursery worker…. We owe these “smaller” members much greater honor than they receive. I actually sit convicted as I write this: I know that I have not shown honor to my current church’s nursery workers in the manner that they deserve. Write a thank you card, give them a gift card for the nursery worker’s best friend Coffee, bring them to the front of the church every now and then and allow the church to see them honored.
4. The nursery worker must never undermine a parent’s authority. It’s easy, especially after you become a parent, to forget that the child you are caring for does not belong to you. If a parent wants to cloth diaper and you think that’s a waste of money or time, close your lips. If a parent feels convicted to not allow their child screen time, do not hand that child a phone or tablet. As a nursery worker, your main responsibility is to care for those children in the manner that their parents would. We must love in their absence, require obedience in their absence, play in their absence, but never, ever take over their role of Mama in their absence. A nursery worker should never criticize a mother’s methods. If they have a concern, they should bring that concern to the nursery leader’s attention; from there, the leader can determine if that concern needs to be addressed or if it’s simply a difference in opinion. I’ve seen a nursery worker in a church I visited tell a child they could do something that their mother had just said they could not do. Never, ever undermine the parental authority. You’ll only isolate the parents and put them on the defense. Someone who feels attacked will never want to receive truth (salvation) from someone who attacked them.

I’m going to be honest: the most important of these is #3. Because if a person feels appreciated, they will support you as a parent instead of undermining your authority. If a person feels appreciated, they will follow rules. If a person feels appreciated, they will treat their work in the nursery as a ministry. What have you done lately to make a nursery worker feel appreciated?

Love, Meghan