Covenant News

Covenant Churches Are Benefiting from MOPS

ARVADA, CO (January 23, 2004) - Mothers of small children throughout Covenant congregations all over North America are benefiting from local leadership and the services of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International, a church friendly ministry based in Denver.

Michele Hall, team leader for Field Group Services at MOPS, reported that 22 Covenant churches are registered with the 30-year-old organization. For eight years Hall was director for women and children's ministries at Arvada Covenant Church and oversaw the church's MOPS program. Her church continues to be among the most active MOPS groups, serving more than 150 mothers who are involved in twice-per-month meetings.

MOPS began in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, a town near Arvada. Joanne Bradley, a member of the initial MOPS group, brought MOPS to Arvada Covenant and the church chartered with MOPS in 1985. Hall said the church currently has a line item in the church budget for its MOPS ministries - serving two adult mothers groups and a Teen MOPS group of around 15 - and has also gotten support from its Covenant Women Ministries group. Arvada Covenant even wrote a Teen MOPS Handbook now being used by MOPS groups.

As a result of its myriad ministries, Arvada Covenant received the first Love Never Fails Award from MOPS when the organization celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1998.

"When I got there, it was a very healthy group," said Hall, who has served with MOPS for 10 years. "It continued to grow and in 1996 it grew beyond what children could be serviced in the facility (over 100 moms) and had to start a waiting list. And because they couldn't turn away anyone, they started a second group in 1997 (on a different day) with 55 moms and then started the Teen Moms program.

"They understand and they have the vision for outreach into the community," Hall continued as she discussed her church's involvement. "Their commitment to serve young moms has been amazing and it has brought hundreds of moms into the church and its families as well."

What has made MOPS work for Arvada Covenant? Hall said that the program is a ready-made tool that stresses relational evangelism but isn't a Bible study per se, although biblical principles are used. Evangelistic outreach efforts are made most solidly at Christmas and Easter - Arvada Covenant often hosts a Christmas brunch - and groups encouraged to participate in Bible studies on the weeks MOPS isn't in session.

"We (MOPS) provide materials and support along the way, but it is the individual church's ministry," Hall said. "They recruit the leaders and invest in the ministry. We say that the mom who is furthest away (relationally) from Jesus will be comfortable coming to a MOPS group. That's what makes MOPS so available. Many people who would never go to church come to MOPS and connect with other moms. That is where a new mom is introduced to Christ."

Other Covenant churches of varying sizes have found MOPS to be an effective program as well. At First Covenant Church in Sacramento, California, Thelma Lowery has been part of MOPS since January 2002 and is now coordinating the group. She said 25 are involved and the program has served as the lone connection point for people trying to become known to a church of well over 2,500 people. "This past year we've had many people coming who would not be plugged in anywhere else," Lowery said.

At Redeemer Evangelical Covenant Church in Liverpool, New York, MOPS serves more than 20 moms and a childcare component called MOPPETS ministers to more than two dozen kids with volunteer help. The church's MOPS coordinator, Tammy Ragonese, said that the quality time with other adults is a key component. During the off weeks, 10 moms have become part of a church Bible study, which offers them another relational point of entry into the church.

"We get moms into our church that ordinarily wouldn't come to church and we fill a need," Ragonese said. "There aren't any other groups out there where a mom can have something for themselves and not with their kids. It's a blessing to actually finish a cup of coffee without it getting cold, where you have some quiet and not have to discipline kids or have them sitting on your lap."

"When you have little ones under five, especially under two, it gets easy to get lost in your own world," said Stephanie Kent, MOPS coordinator at Christ Church in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. "There wasn't any time for moms at the church to get together - there was no Moms Night Out or a play group - so that was the biggest need our church had for MOPS. The moms were really glad we started it."

At Beverly Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago, coordinator Christine O'Laughlin has enjoyed the relationships being built with mature Christian women who are part of the 15-person program. A few of the women don't have little children and are considered "mentor moms," as they help support the other mothers. The MOPS group evolved from a mother's group the church had started 15 years earlier and the affiliation with MOPS has helped people in the neighborhood find a viable support group.

MOPS International, Inc., which is serving about 100,000 mothers, has more than 3,000 groups overall with most of them being church related. It espouses four key values: connection to the local church, relational evangelism, expertise in mothering and leadership development. For more information about MOPS, call Hall at 303-696-2730 or email her at mhall@mops.org. The MOPS web site is www.mops.org.

Along with the congregations mentioned above, MOPS programs are active or becoming active at Covenant churches in Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin. Call Millie Lungren at the Covenant Resource Center, 800-338-4332, to find out about which congregations are currently chartered MOPS members.

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