1. Birth to Three Ministry: Q & A
This presentation developed for your congregation compliments of Augsburg Fortress
This presentation is an introduction to birth to three ministry and why it is an important part of any church’s programming. It is designed for use with congregations that are searching for ways to expand their birth to three ministry beyond baptismal gifts (i.e., the napkin, a candle) and a church nursery (i.e., clean space, age-appropriate toys). Plan this presentation for an adult education hour, a Christian Education committee meeting, or another setting where people gather to learn and to be challenged. Make sure you have enough time and space to explore birth to three ministry possibilities together!
A few tips
As you review this content before your presentation, read the notes about the main ideas on each slide. You can add to these notes and customize them based on the unique features of your congregation.
With parents’ permission, obtain photos of infants and young children in your congregation and include them in the presentation. Seeing the faces of these babies and toddlers is a great way to remind people of your congregation’s youngest members and the need to consider ministry for them.
Think about logistics. Plan for at least 45 minutes so that you can address each question and ponder areas for growth together. Make sure everyone in your audience can see the screen.
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

2. Birth to Three Ministry
Why
Who
When
Where
What
How
This presentation introduces your audience to several questions surrounding birth to three ministry. In this slide, briefly ponder each of these questions. (Note that they’re in a different order than the usual sequence of who, what, where, when, why, and how.)
Why: Why should we provide birth to three ministry in our congregation?
Who: Who is involved in birth to three ministry?
When: When should we offer birth to three ministry?
Where: Where should birth to three ministry occur?
What: What is (or should be) the content of birth to three ministry?
How: How can we make birth to three ministry happen in our congregation?
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

3. Birth to Three Ministry: Why?
The Bible tells me so
Evangelism
Research findings
Corporate response
Why support Birth to Three ministry in your congregation? This is the most important question to ask. Fortunately, there is a lot of support for this type of ministry from many different areas. Choose one or more of these points to emphasize with your congregation.
The Bible Tells Me So: Maybe you’d like to explore the scriptural foundations for birth to three ministry in more depth.
Evangelism: Maybe your congregation is searching for new ways to attract and welcome new members.
Research Findings/Corporate Response: If your congregation stays connected to current trends in other areas, a closer look at early childhood research findings and the corporate response to these findings may be most interesting.
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

4. Why? The Bible tells me so
Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Luke 18:15-17
Mark 10:13-16
Luke 17:1-2
You can read these passages aloud, or pass out Bibles and ask for volunteers. If a child in your congregation enjoys reading the lessons during worship, ask him or her to read these passages.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 points to “Faith Talk” happening in different places at different times. God wants us to share our love of the Lord with our children.
In Luke 18:15-17, Jesus calls the children (including babies!) to him after they’ve been ordered by the disciples not to bring them to be touched by Jesus. Who are we like - the people who brought the young children to Jesus or the disciples? What does it mean to receive God’s kingdom as a little child? When do we contemplate this question in our congregational life together?
Mark 10:13-16 depicts the same story of Jesus blessing the children. In this account, Jesus is angered by the disciples and tender toward the children. He gathers them in his arms, lays his hands on them, and blesses them. Jesus speaks boldly against those who would keep children from him.
In Luke 17:1-2, Jesus cautioned his disciples that hindering faith in young children was a serious offense. What are stumbling blocks today? Do we create obstacles (or fail to remove them) that make it difficult for young children and their families to feel welcome in our congregation? Is doing nothing for these children another kind of stumbling block?
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

5. © 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.
Why? Evangelism
Does this sound familiar?
Baby is born or adopted
Parents return to church for baptism
Child reappears for Sunday school (maybe)
Connecting with young children connects you with families
Does this pattern sound familiar?
A baby is born or adopted. The baby’s parents may not be regular worshipers at a congregation. They may not even be members. But they choose your church for the baptism. Maybe it’s the congregation of the baby’s grandparents. Maybe it’s the neighborhood church. Maybe it’s the church where a friend’s child was baptized and they felt comfortable there. In any case, the child is baptized at your congregation and receives the baptismal gifts. But the child and his or her parents do not begin participating more fully in congregational life. They may not attend worship frequently, or at all. A few years later, the child might enroll in Sunday school.
Connecting with and supporting nonmember families with young children leads to many of those families joining a congregation. Doubtful? Talk with members of congregations that support preschools and early childhood centers. When you show caregivers that their child is welcomed, embraced, and valued, they will remember you, and are more likely to seek time with your community.
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

6. © 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.
Why? Research findings
Findings from neuroscience and psychology
Birth to three is a time of amazing brain development
Experience affects brain connections
Development occurs in many areas: physical, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, social, spiritual
Research on brain development during the first three years of life (and prenatal development, too!) has produced some amazing findings over the last decade. Key among them: we are born with all the brain cells we’ll ever have at birth, so the first years after birth is the time when these cells get connected with each other. Researchers from many fields have also discovered that experience affect how effectively and extensively brain cells connect with each other.
What do these scientific findings mean when it comes to faith formation? The first three years of life are a critical time in many areas of development. Unfortunately, research has not focused much on spiritual development during the first three years. We can conclude from the findings in other areas that infants and young children are indeed capable of developing spiritually and forming faith.
It’s a lot of science, and you may wonder why your church community should be pondering such research. Think of the birth to three years as a prime time for the church to make its first (of many) impressions with children’s active and ever-changing brains.
If you’re still not sold on why churches should consider brain research finding, take a look in the next slide at how corporations have embraced this research.
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

7. Why? Corporate Response
Toys
Videos
Restaurants
Furnishings
Automobiles
Providing toys, videos, and books and non-educational products like furniture and clothing is big business these days!
Toys: Many toy companies claim that their toys enhance brain development. Several brand names (IQ, Neuro, Brilliant, Einstein) actually include references to brain development.
Videos: Videos developed for babies and toddlers? This is now a multimillion dollar industry, despite the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics that children younger than 2 watch no television.
Restaurants: Kid-friendly restaurants offer booster seats, play places, and under-3 toys. Fast-food restaurants strategize how to build brand loyalty in babies and toddlers.
Furnishings: Several home furnishing companies have now developed kid lines. (They wouldn’t offer $800 cribs unless they knew parents would buy them.)
Automobiles: Car makers have gone beyond emphasizing safety features of their vehicles to touting the kid-friendly features of their vehicles, like jacks for headphones and games and DVD players.
These companies would not be developing, marketing, and advertising these products if they weren’t confident that parents would buy these things for their children. What message do we send as a church when we ignore research findings that have been embraced (and even exploited) by these corporations? What message do we send as a church when we do not invest in ministry for our children in the midst of the corporations who spend millions to build brand identity, logo recognition, and repeated spending?
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

8. Birth to Three Ministry: Who?
Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers
Parents
Grandparents
Other members of the church community
Who is impacted by birth to three ministry? Just about everyone in the congregation! Explore the ways that this ministry affects many people in your congregation, adding your own stories where appropriate.
Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are blessed by a community that values them and takes their faith formation seriously.
When congregations support, affirm, and educate parents about their role in early faith formation, parents may find their own faith deepening, too.
Grandparents often have rich faith traditions to share. When these valuable members of the congregation are tapped to share their faith, their wisdom, their stories, everyone’s faith can grow.
Others in your church community can be profoundly affected by the birth to three ministry in your congregation. A few examples:
Hearing the story of Jesus’ birth while sitting next to a family with an infant can take the story to new depths.
Witnessing a baptism may lead to more reflection of baptismal promises
Receiving a baby’s toothless grin while in worship lifts anyone’s spirits!
Reflecting on the utter dependence of a young child on parents and the parents’ tender love and care for the child may lead to more contemplation about God’s amazing love and care for us.
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

9. Birth to Three Ministry: When?
Prenatally/during the adoption process
At birth/adoption
At Baptism
During infancy
During the toddler years
When should this ministry begin? It is never too early to support faith formation in children! Here are some possibilities:
Prenatally and during the adoption process: Offer prayers, ask expectant parents what kind of support they want, and connect families in your congregation who are experiencing pregnancy and adoption
At birth/adoption: Find out how the congregation can best support new parents (bringing meals, meeting the adopted child and family at the airport) and ask parents how they’d like to share the joyful news of the child’s arrival (calling the church office, contacting the pastor)
At Baptism: Provide baptismal gifts (napkin, shell, cross), cards, certificates
During infancy: Welcome families with babies in worship and make sure a safe, clean nursery with qualified caregivers is available
During the toddler years: Embrace families with young, active children in worship, provide “please touch” art, banners, and other tactile objects for kids to explore, add toddler-friendly books to the library, and schedule time for faith-based stories and activities in the nursery
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

10. Birth to Three Ministry: Where?
At church
During worship
In the nursery
During education time
Special classes
At home
Everyday at-home activities
In the car
Where should your congregation’s birth to three ministry be offered?
The church building is a great place for families!
Worship spaces provide rich visual images, lots of musical and spoken sounds, and movement up front by pastors, lectors, acolytes, and people receiving communion
Clean, safe nurseries welcome kids and reassure parents
Adult education time can include sessions on faith formation in children
Special classes in the evenings or after worship can address specific topics like faith rituals, parenting tips, sibling relationships, and other areas of interest to parents in your congregation
Faith formation happens outside church time too. Congregations can support families in many ways.
Teach prayers and songs that can be used during meals, playtime, and bedtime rituals
Offer faith-filled music that families can listen and sing to together in the car
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

11. Birth to Three Ministry: What?
Prayer support
Church nursery
Programming: support groups, parent education, faith formation
Print materials: Splash! Packs
Gifts: baptismal gifts, faith chest
Worship
So…what can your congregation provide? There are lots of options!
Most important, our prayers share with God our love and concern for the youngest members of God’s family
The church nursery can be a safe, inviting place that also provides support for faith formation if Bible stories are read, songs are sung, puppet plays are presented, and prayers are said
Programming for parents offers them needed support and affirmation
Print material like books, devotions, and monthly Parent Pages in the Splash! Pack can offer information about development and ideas about faith formation
Gifts given during birth, baptism, and other milestones can be visible symbols of faith in the child’s home
Worship that welcomes everyone regardless of age, wiggle factor, or whether they sleep through the sermon is worship that embraces all of God’s family!
Evaluate your congregation’s programming to see what you offer now. You may be surprised at all the ways that birth to three ministry is happening in your church – take time to celebrate this discovery! Then explore how this ministry can grow even more.
If you struggled to find evidence of ministry for your youngest members, hopefully this presentation will spark some ideas for what to try next.
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.

12. Birth to Three Ministry: How?
Prayer
Leadership: staff members, volunteers
Vision: what should it look like?
Visibility: banners, photos, new member materials
Sponsorship by grandparents, other families
So how do you get birth to three ministry going in your congregation, and how do you keep growing it?
Begin with prayer. Express your concerns and hopes and dreams to God. Listen for God’s response. What is God’s plan for birth to three ministry in your congregation?
Evaluate leadership. If you have a staff person who plans birth to three ministry, what additional support can the congregation offer? If not, ask members to prayerfully consider how they can use their gifts to support birth to three ministry.
Check on the visibility of birth to three ministry. Do members know who the birth to three members area? Do you have banners or other artwork that sends a positive message about young children? Do you include birth to three information in your new member materials?
Obtain sponsorships. If finances are tight, look beyond the budget to other sources for purchasing birth to three ministry materials. Many grandparents and baptismal sponsors would appreciate an opportunity to purchase gifts, books, and other faith formation materials (like Splash! Packs) to nurture faith formation in the life of a child.
As you wrap up this presentation, think about next steps.
How many infant baptisms occur at your church each year?
How many children from birth to three are members at your congregation?
When is the last time you reviewed current birth to three programs and ministries?
What do parents of young children say they need?
What will your congregation do in the next year to grow its birth to three ministry?
Think of the wonderful plans God has for birth to three ministry at your church! Then get going!
© 2005 Augsburg Fortress. For local use only. All rights reserved.