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“Let the Children Come to Me…” - Jesus
There are children at St. Luke’s at least 6 out of 7 days a week.
St. Luke’s has Children’s Church every Sunday at both worships 8:30 and 10 AM. During the school year on during Wednesday Church Night there are 3 or 4 opportunities for specific age groups: Preschoolers and Parents, Children’s Ministry (Kindergarten - 2nd grade), Upper Elementary Ministry (3rd-5th grade), and Youth Ministry (6th-12th grade). During Vacation Bible School Preschoolers through High School age students fill St. Luke’s.
St. Luke’s Preschool meets during the school year from 9 AM - Noon, Monday - Friday. Not all the students attend every day, so although we are limited to 20 students/day, more than 20 students can be in Preschool.
A number of years ago, St. Luke’s opened its doors to Learning Tree Development Center, a childcare center that was located at Normandale College, but due to renovations, their space was eliminated. St. Luke’s Education Wing had open classrooms during the day, so now up to 38 children, infant through preschool age fill them year-round.
A fun God moment is when the former St. Luke’s Preschool Director retired, it was difficult to find a replacement. Learning Tree’s owner Barb Watson agreed to be the interim director for St. Luke’s Preschool. This created a beautiful relationship which benefitted both programs.
One of the difficulties families faced who wanted to send a child to St. Luke’s Preschool was the time frame, 9 AM - Noon. With the relationship with Learning Tree, now families can bring St. Luke’s Preschool students early and/or stay late making a seamless transition between pre and post care with Learning Tree.
The demand for childcare is increasing with Learning Tree having a waiting list. St. Luke’s North Star Cinema is no longer being used, with some of the seating in need of repair. The hope is that this summer the Cinema can be converted back to a classroom allowing even more children to come.
Current need is to find a crew of people who are interested in helping transform the space for use this Fall. If you are interested, please contact:
Pastor Rob Norris-Weber (rob@stlukesbloomington.org) or Director Barb Watson (barbw@stlukesbloomington.org).
Jesus continued, “…and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” - Matthew 14:9
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