In the early decades after Asbury United Methodist Church and Laura Wilder Elementary School opened in the late 1950s, they were casual neighbors, the kind that wave if they’re pulling out of the driveway at the same time.

Since 2017, however, that relationship has changed and deepened. Now, if they were living, breathing neighbors, Asbury and Laura Wilder would be the kind that invited each other to summer backyard barbecues.

Seven years ago, Asbury prioritized developing a relationship with Laura Wilder staff, teachers, and students as its Signature Ministry. During the school years since then, Asbury members have adopted classrooms, fed teachers during conference time, aided the school’s Parent-Teacher Association, and offered countless prayers.

“I feel the support of Asbury all around our school. And I know my staff does too,” said school principal Matt Semmler. “Students might not be fully aware of everything that Asbury does, but they also feel that presence.”

Nick and Tina Jackson joined Asbury six years ago. They are also the parents of two Laura Wilder students, June, third grade, and Charlie, kindergarten. Nick Jackson recalled telling a friend about the partnership and explaining it as a way to put faith into action.

“It’s giving time, not in a way that’s preaching. I think that’s the difference,” he said. “St. Francis of Assisi said to preach the Gospel at all times and, if necessary, use words. We’re preaching the Gospel but just by helping, not using any words.”

The partnership started when Cindy Nelson, currently chair of Asbury’s Mission Team, took part in an ecumenical coalition of Sioux Falls churches seeking ways to impact the community. One of the coalition’s goals was church-school partnerships, especially with Title I schools.

Asbury’s proximity to Laura Wilder made it ideal. The church’s front entrance and the school’s playground border Jefferson Avenue in Sioux Falls. Laura Wilder sits north of 31st Street, and Asbury is south of 31st and one block to the east.

Shortly after the coalition met, Asbury went through the Missional Church Consultation Initiative (MCCI), a team-led process of church renewal. When team members interviewed Nelson, she mentioned that the partnership was beginning. The MCCI process states that a church needs to be identified by something that it does well, making it a Signature Ministry, and the team pointed Asbury to the partnership.

Members of Asbury UMC in Sioux Falls, SD, put together folders to help the teachers of Laura Wilder Elementary School.(photo courtesy of Kip Roozen)

Nelson coordinates the program with Semmler and the school’s assistant principal. Semmler has been principal for six years, and when he arrived, the previous principal shared information about the partnership with him.

“My point has always been to be in conversation with the principal and find out what they need,” Nelson said. “It isn’t us coming in to say, ‘We’ll do this and this.’ It’s ‘how can we support you and the students in the school.’”

The partnership has evolved over time, but the support has been consistent. And it’s valued.

“I’m just so thankful for everything that Asbury does,” Semmler said. “They support us, yes, in donations and these material things, but more importantly, you feel them supporting us as people.”

The day before the back-to-school open house, a dozen Asbury volunteers showed up to assemble the folders that would be given out at the open house. At parent-teacher conferences this fall, volunteers will bring over sandwiches for supper. In May, volunteers will help on field trip day. In between, the Adopt-A-Teacher program will start. Nelson expects about 20 teachers to participate.

Nelson said partners from the congregation will contact “their” teacher at least monthly. They drop off small gifts, treats, or gift cards, pray for the teacher and their students throughout the year, and sometimes help in the classroom.

It puts the commandment “love your neighbor” into action.

“We know that God calls us to love our neighbors, and Laura Wilder is right there in our neighborhood,” Nelson said. “We want to share Christ’s love through our acts of service.”

Like Nelson, Elaine Roberts is a retired educator. She has been a teacher’s aide and a classroom teacher and has led the Sioux Falls Education Association and the South Dakota Education Association. She transferred her membership from another Sioux Falls United Methodist church to Asbury largely so she could participate in the volunteer program at Laura Wilder.

Three years ago, Roberts began volunteering in the classroom of Jasmine Harms, then a beginning teacher with a combined classroom of fourth- and fifth-graders.

“I picked it because it was blended and because it was a first-year teacher. I know how challenging the first year of teaching can be,” Roberts said. “We’ve become friends. An old lady and a young woman, but we look at each other as colleagues.”

Last school year, Roberts’ volunteer hours focused on reading projects. After Harms asked for Robert’s assistance, Roberts offered tips on classroom management, suggesting how the classroom could be set up to serve teachers and students best.

Clad in her Asbury T-shirt, Roberts was one of the church members who volunteered at Laura Wilder’s open house for new and returning students in August. Several families approached her and expressed their appreciation for how much the volunteers care for the school and students.

Roberts knows it works both ways and benefits her faith personally as well.

“I gain more from being with those kids. They give more to me than I give to them, and it’s this mutual kind of thing, and I think that works,” she said. “And it shows the importance of not keeping it inside the (church) doors but into the world.”

Semmler said that Laura Wilder shelters about 450 students and 65 staff and instructors within 20 classroom walls. It offers activities throughout the school year that bring parents and students together with staff, such as a bingo night as the school year ends. That evening, Asbury members will volunteer in various areas, anything from selling slices of pizza to supervising prizes, Semmler said. Their willingness to do that means PTA members can play bingo with their children rather than fill those roles.

“I can show up and be fully invested with my family,” Jackson said.

When the Jackson family attended the August open house, he noted the Asbury members dotting the school hallways. A former principal himself, he knew what seemed like a small job was actually extremely important.

Volunteers from Asbury UMC serve at their neighborhood school, Laura Wilder Elementary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.(Photo courtesy of Matt Morrison)

It goes beyond time, Jackson said.

“It’s great for students and faculty at Laura Wilder to see members there with their Asbury shirts on,” he said. “It’s the best kind of witnessing that someone can do—just loving on our community and not necessarily talking about Christ. Just loving our neighborhood.”

Like the Jacksons, Carly and Adam Ellsworth are Asbury members who have two children at Laura Wilder, Finn in third grade and Rowan in first. They joined Asbury more than five years ago, and Carly serves on its Leadership Team.

Carly Ellsworth said the partnership with Laura Wilder was one of the reasons the Ellsworths chose to join Asbury. One of the most important ways Asbury supports the elementary school is outside its walls. When the school year starts, members conduct a prayer walk on the sidewalks surrounding it.

“It kind of makes me tear up thinking about it,” she said. “The congregation walks around the school and prays for our kids. In this time of gun violence and other horrible things, knowing people are coming alongside you and experiencing it with you is important. I get choked up knowing other people care enough to be there for our kids.”

Ellsworth said that the partnership between Asbury and Laura Wilder developed a multigenerational culture. From that comes a sense of community that is more than just one family and their faith.

That feeling of community can filter down to the youngest members. Asbury donated two scooters to be given away at the open house. Rowan Ellsworth immediately planned what he would do if he won. And when he did, Rowan immediately put it into action.

“The first thing he told Mr. Semmler and his teacher was that he was going to give his old scooter to Wesley, a neighborhood kid down the Street. Even before he opened the box at home, he had that (old) scooter down the street,” his mother said.

Asbury members who support Laura Wilder—through time, donations, contributing money for meals and treats and games, or saying prayers—find the experience “very, very positive,” Nelson said.

“When we need volunteers, they come forward, whether it’s donations or helping with events at the school. They’ve been very supportive. I think they’ve taken it on: ‘this is our special project,’” she said. “They take pride in that - that we’re being in ministry with our neighborhood. That’s another part of MCCI - What’s your neighborhood - because these are the people you can have the greatest impact on.”

Resources: 

The Lewis Center for Leadership provides some great resources for developing church-school partnerships in your community.