We are looking at putting our little girl into a new preschool in Decatur. When sitting in the informational meeting Jessica was struck by how the school is focused on community both inside and outside the school. Here is a clip from their website:

Oakhurst Cooperative Preschool’s mission seeks to fulfill the supporting roles once fulfilled by grandparents, aunts, and siblings by providing a community where families not only come together to educate their children, but also to build long-term bonds among families in our community. The preschool is the center of this larger family support network, our dedication to our mission and values draws families to the greater co-op community. Our goal is to create a dynamic learning environment that synthesizes the best practices in early childhood education with the talents of a creative professional staff and focuses on integrating family and community into that environment.

Wow. They want to be family to one another, and to intentionally move out from that intimate community into the larger community to serve. I don’ t know about you, but that sounds shockingly similar to the way that the Acts 2 church was, and dissimilar to the way most “modern” churches think and operate.

Jessica talked to one lady that was a part of the school last year, the lady said that when she had a baby the community came together to cook her meals and that she didn’t have to cook anything for an entire month. ONE MONTH! When Jess and I had our last kid our church cooked us one meal!

Followers of Jesus take note! We must seek to “fulfill the supporting roles once fulfilled by grandparents, aunts, and siblings” and we are failing too often. This is the reason that we often find our community too shallow and why outsiders see the church as a selfish, people counting machine. Something in our thinking must change.