Three CMBA churches recently shared updates about how they are on mission through relationships with community schools. They also shared ways that churches of any size can begin showing up for neighbors by offering support and committing to a faithful, regular presence in public schools.

Conversations Open Doors

When Pastor Josh Blythe was called to Spears Creek in 2023, church members had already been hosting a Good News Club at Doby’s Mill Elementary for several years. It was a successful outreach that resulted in several families joining the church. As Blythe looked to expand the partnership, he saw the importance of recognizing public school staff for the essential roles they play within a community.

“They have long days with a lot of demands and expectations, but not as many people saying ‘thank you.’ We looked for ways to encourage them and let them know we appreciate what they do,” Blythe explains. “Anyone doing something positive in our community is a plus, and we want to join them in helping to make this community the best it can be. At the same time, we are a witness to the gospel and try to bring Jesus into the conversation in any way possible.”

Blythe discovers school needs his church can help to meet by serving as a community leader representative on the Doby’s Mill improvement council. Projects like cleaning the school’s hallway walls on a Saturday morning, supplying Christmas gifts to needy families during the holidays, and providing 320 treat bags for students during standardized testing “show our support and love for Doby’s Mill students and teachers.”

A number of children at Spears Creek attend Pontiac Elementary, the school in closest proximity to the church, so the congregation is exploring partnership opportunities there. The principal shared several immediate needs with Blythe, including a student garden that had become overgrown with weeds. Some youth from Spears Creek transformed the space one Saturday morning last February by clearing out the weeds, adding new dirt, and donating a new cabinet and garden tools to the school.

“There are opportunities for ministry all throughout every community. Partnering with schools has helped us create personal relationships that have allowed us to share that God has a purpose and a plan for them,” Blythe says, adding that members of the community rarely “come and ask your church to do something. You must get to know people, on their terms and in their sphere of influence, and then listen to the needs they share. Church is for the good of the community. When a church gets out and does things for the community, it shows them that the church is also for them.”

School Recognizes Smaller Congregation’s Big Impact

“Pastor Shawn” and members of Earlewood Baptist have spent the last year growing relationships with administrators and students at Heyward Gibbes Middle School. Shawn is a bivocational pastor with an engineering background who volunteered with a Keenan High School robotics team several years ago. In the past year, Shawn started a robotics club at Heyward Gibbes and has sought additional opportunities to serve and build relationships there.

“The goal of anything we do at Heyward Gibbes is to ultimately introduce them to Christ, and to let them know that we hope to make a difference in some lives,” he says.

Last year, two Earlewood members served on the middle school’s improvement committee. That opened doors for serving and meeting needs, including being available for prayer during parent-teacher meeting nights and assisting a few families in need through the school’s social worker. Earlewood also helped with projects, like a winter coat drive that collected 240 coats for students, and encouraged teachers through regular notes and gifts.

According to Shawn, “it’s a real partnership, not a one-time thing. We’re as embedded as you can get.”

In return, Heyward Gibbes faculty and staff named Shawn the “Volunteer of the Year,” noting the “outstanding dedication, valuable contributions, and unwavering support” shown to students.

Shawn says that his church will be focusing on teacher relationships in the coming year, starting with a back-to-school event for teachers and staff on August 30. For Earlewood, this school partnership is “a commitment to being present in a number of ways, but it’s also a long-term process. We are loving, serving, and meeting needs with a mindset that it’s not about our church.”

Trust Built Through a Four-Year Relationship

Pastor JayWill Wilson and the congregation at City of Refuge Church have been partnering with neighboring J.P. Thomas Elementary for the past four years. Wilson, who serves as a chaplain to school staff, says the church has “gone from hosting events and serving, to now we are part of the family.” They will become even more like family when Wilson’s wife Krystal joins the staff as a kindergarten teaching assistant this fall.  

“The Lord has been so kind. We are no longer just offering good things or quick fixes, we are now a part of their community,” Wilson says of the partnership, that has been covered by CMBA over the years. Now, the church is eyeing opportunities at Alcorn Middle School as students transition there out of elementary school.

Why should churches partner with local schools? According to Wilson, public schools are ideal entry points into the community because they are a stable, existing institution with knowledgeable staff.

“If you want to be missional, serve a school because of its access into every issue of the community. And don’t expect to get fast growth because you come in with doughnuts. True relationship-building is a long game that yields respect and inroads to the community,” Wilson says, advising that churches commit to at least one year of partnership. “If I was going into a foreign land, how long would I commit to being there before I gave up? We know the stories of missionaries who waited a decade before they saw anything, and we have to have the same mindset before entering schools – it’s the long game.”

CMBA reminds our Family of Churches that grants are available to churches seeking to serve local schools through the association and the SC Baptist Convention. Contact office@scbaptist.org for more information about grant applications. For more school partnership resourcing, visit www.scbaptist.org/heart4schools.