The Children’s Garden is a ministry of St. John’s Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). This means that our church and school are guided by the beliefs, teachings, and values of the ELCA. As pastors and school leadership, we take seriously our responsibility to ensure that these values are reflected in the life of our school.

Two commitments we have made in recent years are to become more welcoming and affirming of our LGBTQIA+ neighbors and to actively engage in the work of anti-racism. These commitments are rooted in our Christian faith and our belief that every person is created in the image of God, deserving of dignity, respect, love, and belonging.

We recognize that families come to our school from many different backgrounds, traditions, and beliefs. We do not expect every family to believe exactly as we do. However, we do believe it is important to be transparent about who we are, what we value, and how those values shape the environment in which your children learn and grow.

Learn more about the ELCA's beliefs here: https://www.elca.org/about-the-elca/who-we-are/beliefs

What Does This Mean for Our Children?

Recently, concerns have been raised that we are teaching children about sexuality or sexual identity as part of our curriculum. We want to clarify what these conversations actually look like in an early childhood setting.

First, we are not teaching children about sexual activity or introducing adult concepts of sexuality into our classrooms. What we are doing is helping children understand the world around them, the people they encounter, and the beautiful diversity of God’s creation.

Research in early childhood development tells us that children begin noticing differences among people at an incredibly young age. Even infants can begin distinguishing between faces of different racial backgrounds during their first year of life. As children grow, they notice differences in skin color, hair texture, family structures, abilities, languages, and the ways people live and interact.

Children are incredibly observant. They notice far more than we sometimes give them credit for.

And when children notice differences, they ask questions.

Why does my friend’s skin look different from mine?

Why does my friend have two mommies?

Why does that person use a wheelchair?

Why does my friend celebrate a different holiday?

These are not inherently adult questions. They are children trying to make sense of the world around them.

We do children a disservice when we refuse to give them the language to talk about what they see. When we avoid these conversations altogether, we risk unintentionally teaching children that differences are something to fear, hide, or be ashamed of.

Instead, we want to help children approach the world with curiosity, kindness, compassion, and respect.

Sometimes that means simply saying, “Families can look different, and all families deserve kindness and love.”

Sometimes it means explaining that people have different skin colors and that every skin color is beautiful.

Sometimes it means reminding children that no one should be excluded from playing because of what they look like, who their family is, or how they are different.

These are age-appropriate conversations about kindness, belonging, and the dignity of every human being.

What Does This Look Like in Chapel?

Our primary goal in chapel is simple: to teach your children that God loves them.

We want every child to know that they are wonderfully made, deeply loved, and never beyond the reach of God’s grace.

But we also teach that God’s love doesn’t stop with us. God’s love moves through us and into the world. Because God loves us, we are called to love our neighbors, care for creation, help those who are hurting, and make the world a more loving and just place.

Let me give you an example from a recent chapel lesson.

A few weeks ago, I taught the children the story of Adam and Eve. We talked about how God created the world and everything in it, and how God invited humanity to help care for that creation.

We talked about being co-creators with God.

What does that mean for a preschooler? It means that God has given us this beautiful world and invited us to be partners in caring for it. We help plants grow. We care for animals. We look after our friends. We help one another thrive.

And then we talked about how God gives us people to walk through life with.

Sometimes those people are someone we marry. Sometimes they are our friends. Sometimes they are the people in our families or the people who care for us. Partners and families can look different, and the beautiful thing is that God gives us relationships in which we can love, support, and care for one another.

The point of the lesson wasn’t marriage or sexuality.

The point was that God created us for relationship, and that being in relationship means helping one another thrive.

That is the kind of teaching we are doing in chapel.

We are not asking children to define their identities, choose labels, or understand adult relationships. We are teaching them that love, care, friendship, and belonging are gifts from God.

Why This Matters to Us

We understand that conversations about race, identity, gender, and family structures can sometimes feel uncomfortable, particularly when adults have different beliefs or experiences.

But our responsibility as a Christian school is not to pretend that differences don’t exist. It is to help children learn how to encounter those differences with love.

When a child with two dads comes into our classroom, we want that child to know their family is welcome.

When a child of color comes into our classroom, we want them to see themselves reflected in our books, our classrooms, and our community.

When a child asks why someone looks, speaks, or lives differently than they do, we want our teachers to respond with honesty, kindness, and language that is appropriate for their age.

And when a child hears someone say something unkind or exclusionary, we want to help them understand why those words can hurt and how they can choose to treat others differently.

This is what it means for us to be both an affirming and anti-racist school.

It does not mean asking children to think like adults. It means helping them grow into compassionate human beings.

As Christians, we believe that loving our neighbor is not simply a nice idea. It is a calling. Jesus repeatedly crossed boundaries, welcomed those who had been excluded, and reminded people that God’s love was far bigger than the limits human beings tried to place upon it.

We believe our children are capable of learning that kind of love from the very beginning.

We are committed to providing an environment that is safe, nurturing, developmentally appropriate, and rooted in our Christian faith. We will continue to teach children about God’s love, the dignity of every person, and the importance of caring for our neighbors.