New Life recently started a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. One of the great things about this group is it’s led entirely by volunteers. Catherine Stewart has been key in making this happen. She and the other leaders started this group as an outreach to our community and provide an opportunity for Moms to find support and community. I recently received the following update and thought it would be great to share with you all. You can also find out more here.
I have been meaning to send something like this to you for a while. I finally got the push to do it after giving a similar summary to Leslie verbally on Sunday and after reading the recent TBC email. I think you know a lot of this already, but I wrote this so you could share it with others in church leadership if you so choose. Sorry if it is too long.
This fall’s kick-off of New Life’s MOPS group has gone pretty well. We started out on October 2nd with 13 moms. Those same 13 moms stuck with us for the entire fall semester, and as far as I know, they are planning to continue with us in the spring. There are a few other moms who joined or expressed interest just recently, so hopefully we’ll get up above 15 for the spring semester. I have to admit that I was disappointed when it became clear to me that we weren’t going to have the 25 or more that I had hoped for (and made folders/bags for, and designed the table arrangement for), but it is clear that this group of 13 was what God had intended for us. In hindsight, it was probably good that we had a stable static group as we worked out the kinks for the first few meetings. Everyone involved seems to really enjoy coming together each week for our activities. I know the group is helping all of us, even the mentors.
I am so thankful to Natalie Loveless for leading our MOPPETS preschool program, and to the nZone childcare staff for watching the little one. The kids love it, and that makes it easier for moms to be comfortable coming back every week. It has also been a blessing to help Heather Smith and Passion for Community with gift wrapping, clothing sorting, and Thanksgiving food donation sorting. Finally, the thing I am most excited about is the fact that the group has encouraged women to come to church with their families. While not everyone is right now, we have seen some people taking this step and it has been a real encouragement. We’re still very small, but we have lots of opportunities for growth in 2014.
Catherine