It might be one of the synod’s best-kept secrets: WELS operates more early childhood centers and preschools than Lutheran elementary schools. And for good reason, according to Martin Luther College Early Childhood Professor Cheryl Loomis—“This is a great opportunity to minister to families, to do outreach in the community, and to educate the whole child.”

Martin Luther College (MLC), New Ulm, Minn., began educating early childhood teachers in 1994. In 1998, the college opened its own early childhood center, where MLC student teachers work under experienced supervising professors to polish their skills in a warm, gospel-rich environment.

The opening enrollment at MLC’s center was three. It rose to seven by the end of that year, and this year, its 10th anniversary year, 30 children attend. According to a governing board-approved plan, when funding is procured the center will expand by four rooms: another preschool room, a toddler room, an infant room, and a family room for parent information classes, raising its maximum capacity to 50 students.

Just what is early childhood education (ECE)? It is not glorified baby-sitting, nor is it elementary school teaching. It’s the nurturing of children ages 0-8, which requires a specific body of pedagogical knowledge. Knowing this, congregations establishing preschools—like Hope, Henry County, Ga.—want an ECE director who has mastered early child growth and development, ECE program administration, and developmentally appropriate curriculum and instruction.

Janine Techtmann, the MLC graduate assigned to Hope, fit the bill. Pastor Paul Seager and his congregation have given Techtmann a full year to get the preschool ready before admitting any students. This includes working with an architect on building plans, creating budgets, writing parent and employee handbooks, ordering supplies, preparing a curriculum, advertising in person and print, and—what she considers her main concern—building relationships in the community.

The congregation is also building relationships through a Mom’s Morning Out program and the Henry County Moms Meet Up Group, started by Seager’s wife, Lara Beth. This group now has 160 moms, all with children under age six. When the preschool opens, these moms will already be familiar with people at Hope.

“The preschool is especially important to Hope since it is a mission congregation and very new itself,” says Techtmann. “It is our hope and prayer that, as relationships are built, the families bring their children not only to preschool but also to church each week.”