Rev. Bobby Duran, his wife Becca, and their four children who have all attended Pisgah Weekday School.
A Letter from our Associate Pastor regarding PCM
About 25 years ago, a little boy came to the Pisgah Weekday School, our “Mother’s Morning Out” program which has served many families in our community for decades. This first exposure to Pisgah for this little boy’s family would change my life forever. Surprisingly, the little boy wasn’t me! It was actually my younger brother. As has been the case for many families, we got to know Pisgah through the Weekday School and it has made all the difference in my life.
For the past few years, we have been exploring the idea of transitioning the Weekday School to a full-time program. Under the direction of the Session, a transition committee has been researching and working hard to see if the way would be clear for this change. We are now at the point where it appears that God has cleared the way for us to move forward.
Our reasons for embracing this new path stem primarily from a desire to glorify God and create relationships for the Gospel. We can all see that our side of Gastonia is growing! This brings change, and it also brings need. Many households in our community are two-career families. As this has become more of the norm, childcare is a big need. In fact, many of our current PWS students have been on waitlists for full-time care for months or years. Families need a place where they can entrust their children for the better part of the day. Given the lack of options for families in our area, we see this as a great opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the lives of our neighbors.
This change will not happen overnight. We want to give our part-time participants ample opportunity to either adjust to a full-time program or find childcare options elsewhere. As we receive legitimate interest in full-time care, we will be enrolling students, hiring teachers and watching our program grow. We would greatly appreciate prayers for wisdom, patience and God’s provision during this pivotal time of growth.
As we see these changes taking shape, a new committee is being formed to oversee the larger operation that our childcare ministry will become. Therefore, our transition team will be ending its work. Personally, and as a leader here at Pisgah, I want to thank everyone who served on that transition committee. This would not have been possible without all the hard work they put into this effort in such a thorough and thoughtful way. Truly, thank you.
Lastly, I know that this is not an exhaustive treatment of all the changes we anticipate, but I hope that it does provide some helpful information and creates some excitement for this new opportunity. On the one hand, this program which was my initial introduction to Pisgah and which has been such a blessing to my own children more recently, is changing. Yet, more than saying goodbye to the way things once were, I think we can confidently say that this is growth. It is a new stage of being able to engage real needs in our community and to have an even bigger impact on giving a Christian education to children in their formative years. It is our hope and prayer that the Lord will bless this change, bless us through the new opportunity and bless others through us for Christ and His Kingdom.