How can faith leaders support early childhood development?

Across racial lines, clergy and churchgoers see affordable, high-quality child care and early education for all families as the church’s most important policy goal, according to a new report from Christian nonprofit Sojourners.

The report, Flourishing Futures: Early Childhood Development in Black and Latine Churches and Faith Communities, offers recommendations for faith leaders to support children and families from Black and Latine backgrounds.

The report compiles findings from 107 focus group and workshop participants, as well as 933 online survey respondents. 

“The information shared in this report from clergy, parents and caregivers is essential as we work to understand the challenges that families face supporting their young children,” the report says. “It is our hope that Flourishing Futures gives clergy the information they need to make their church a cornerstone in their community.”

Surveyed parents and caregivers say the churches provide essential services and resources for children and their families. Nearly 60% of parents and caregivers said their church offers small group gatherings, and 40% said faith-based learning programs are available at their church.

However, the report also points out a gap between parents and clergy members’ perceptions of church services for children and their families. 

“While clergy feel that preaching, blessing children or conducting a church service meet families’ needs, parents and caregivers report that, despite what exists, they still want more tangible support, such as small group gatherings, food security efforts, and childcare support during the week,” the report says. 

Parents and caregivers in urban areas or who are financially unstable were more likely to say that the church could provide more support for early childhood development.

Sojourners’ research revealed that early childhood development was “frequently not prioritized in church budgets.” Workshop participants said this signaled a lack of interest from the church. 

“Clergy may view low attendance as a sign of low interest, which isn’t always the case,” the report said. “Instead, parents may simply feel disconnected from the church.”

Ensuring people can decide whether or when to have children was another popular policy for the church, deemed especially important by community members, respondents aged 31–40 and men.

How faith leaders can help families

The report lays out recommendations for faith leaders to meet these needs.

“When we support our youngest members and their families both at the systems level and in our own church communities, we are living out our commitments to each other,” the report says. “We must work to build a better world for our youngest congregants today, and for future generations.” 

The report’s top recommendations focus on advocacy for systemic change. The report calls on the clergy to “examine the persistent link between socioeconomic status and race in order to dismantle extensive, systemic discrimination that creates barriers for Black and Latine communities to access basic services.” 

Additional recommendations include advocating for better access to health care, affordable housing, food assistance, and family-friendly workplace policies, among other resources. The report also recommends making information available to community members in multiple languages. 

“Faith leaders need to fully understand these challenges and address them both at the individual church level, as well as advocate for large-scale societal change,” the report says. “When clergy advocate, they tear down social injustices that help young children and families access the critical supports and resources they need to develop and thrive.”

Sojourners has a guide that can help faith leaders examine their current early childhood development offerings.

EdNC has a toolkit for faith leaders interested in building stronger partnerships within their communities.