Is Your Church Pro-Family?

Every pastor I know, is gripped by the challenges facing today's families.  We are all too aware of the statistics that describe the state of the American and even the Christian home.  So how does the church, mobilized by the Spirit of God, undergird the family so that we are partnering with parents and not replacing them?  As a REALLY young, small church we have structured what we do around being pro-family.  In an attempt to make this effort more than lip service we have implemented these 6 verbs:

1. FUND IT--quality, safe, clean, engaging children's space does cost $.  In no way does spending money on sound, lights, cribs, toys, books, etc ensure a quality spiritual experience for a kid.  However, if the environment is less than what a parent would provide for their own child it certainly diminishes the reality they will entrust him/her to you again.  To do this we have dedicated a large percentage of our budget towards Discover Kidz.
2. PROMOTE IT--we have assembled a video that allows the adult Gathering attender to get a sneak peak of what Discover Kidz is all about.  We do this in attempt to make this person a fan of Discover Kidz without ever experiencing it.  We also place this on our website so parents and kids can get a taste test prior to showing up on a Sunday.  In addition to the video we intentionally give Discover Kidz a prominent, visible space on our website.
3. STAFF IT--Stephanie (Discover Kidz coordinator) gets first access to prospective volunteers to make sure those working with our kids are highly qualified and are not simply baby sitting.
4. SECURE IT--This is essential!  There are too many churches I am aware of who do not take this part as seriously as is warranted.  Every one of our kids volunteers are nation-wide background checked prior to serving in the ministry.  We have a check in and check out process that we LOVE called Kid Check.  We highly recommend this process to up security, communication, and ease when parents are dropping off or picking up their children!  
5. ALIGN IT--This step requires a total church effort and therefore is where many churches fall short.  I, as the lead pastor, and Stephanie (Discover Kidz Coordinator) align our messages to cover the same texts and themes.  This is to promote the possibilities that mom and dad is more likely to lead a spiritual discussion in the car or around the dinner table if they have already heard a message on the same topic.  To further assist in this, each week Stephanie provides for the parents a handout with verses of Scripture and questions they could ask their children later in the week.  Also, we will be taking it to another level that involves our Connect Groups through out the week.  We will be encouraging parents to allow their children to participate in the Connect Group.  We call them "multi-generational" small groups.  Many times the church divides parents from their kids during all spiritual environments.  We try to find as many venues as possible to keep the family intact.  Yes, there are challenges with behavior, content, etc but we came to the conclusion we would rather fight for something we believed in than have ease in an area we were less than thrilled.  
6. TEACH ON IT--As the pastor I involve the family into every message that I preach.  I will regularly bring application/illustration of the text to the family in an effort to display how the Bible is relevant to today's home challenges.  Also, there is a place on my preaching calendar every year for a series on the family.