By RaeAnn Slaybaugh
At Chase Oaks Church, partnering with Learning Care to bring Pathways Learning Academy to campus has helped meet a community need, create new ministry connections and put underused facilities to work — without asking church staff to become childcare specialists.
Executive Director
Chase Oaks Church
For many churches, full-service childcare offers compelling possibilities: meeting a community need, generating revenue, and connecting with families throughout the week. But the operational demands can make the idea feel out of reach.
At Chase Oaks Church in Plano, Texas, leaders found a way to pursue that opportunity without taking on the responsibility of running a childcare business themselves. By partnering with Learning Care, a nationwide provider of early education and childcare, the church brought Pathways Learning Academy to its campus while keeping staff focused on ministry.
“We were trying to reimagine our facilities to create room for our community throughout the week, because it just sits there 80% of the time, and it’s pretty good space,” says Glen Brechner, executive director of Chase Oaks Church.
In the wake of COVID-19, childcare availability had declined while costs were climbing. The church saw an opportunity to put its facilities to work beyond weekend services.
“So we asked, ‘How do we meet people in our community in the regular rhythm of their lives?’” Brechner says.
START WITH THE COMMUNITY — AND YOUR CAPACITY
Chase Oaks evaluated two questions: What does the community need, and is that a need the church can help meet?
Through relationships with city officials, conversations with community stakeholders and surveys, leaders identified childcare as a significant local need. Serving the next generation was already central to the church’s mission, and its approximately 40,000-square-foot children’s area offered a practical starting point.
Still, adapting the space required investment. Chase Oaks expanded its playground to meet licensing requirements, addressed plumbing issues and made accommodations for food storage and meals. A full commercial kitchen wasn’t necessary; brought-in lunches and catered meals were workable alternatives.
Leaders also considered the impact on existing ministries. Because the space needed to remain secure from early morning through evening, some programs had to adjust their schedules or locations.
“We had to talk to our ministries and say, ‘OK, what are the opportunity costs here?’” Brechner says. “There was some flexibility we gave up a little bit. But we felt like it was definitely a worthwhile trade.”
PARTNER FOR EXPERTISE, NOT JUST CAPACITY
As Brechner points out, Chase Oaks recognized that providing excellent childcare would require more than available classrooms.
“Trying to do it yourself can become a pretty big lift and a distraction for what we’re trying to do as a church,” Brechner says. “We did not have the bandwidth to do it on our own and knew a partner was the way to go.”
Through Ministry Solutions Group, which helped the church explore ways to activate its facilities, leaders evaluated several providers before choosing Learning Care. The fit mattered: Learning Care could run the childcare program with its proven operations, safety and security protocols, and research-based curriculum, while leaving the ministry-led programming in the hands of church staff.
“Chase Oaks knew its community and wanted to serve families well beyond Sunday morning,” says Ian Fleming, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Learning Care. “We brought nearly 60 years of experience in early education so the church could do that without becoming a childcare operator.”
For its part, Chase Oaks provides weekly chapel or spiritual programming through its children’s ministry team, creating another point of connection with families.
“Our kids team does that every week,” Brechner says. “And that’s a good interaction between those families and kids and our church.”
BEYOND REVENUE: MEASURING THE RETURN
Today Pathways Learning Academy at Chase Oaks Legacy serves more than 100 families with children from infants to pre-K. Initially the mix was roughly half church-connected families and half from the broader community; since then, Brechner says, the community share has grown.
All families are invited to church events, including seasonal activities such as trunk-or-treat, introducing more people to the campus and its ministries.
The partnership also delivers a financial benefit. Learning Care pays its share of utilities, maintenance and related expenses, while the church directs six-figure revenue into a building accrual for upkeep and improvements. The partnership has also enhanced children’s spaces through improvements to equipment and furnishings.
“We were trying to activate our spaces, not just with childcare, but just as a church in general — and then our buildings would kind of help pay for themselves,” Brechner says.
PLAN FOR THE LONG GAME
Brechner encourages churches to approach childcare as a long-term investment rather than a quick financial fix. Churches should plan for upfront capital investment, and it takes time to build enrollment and staffing.
“The hardest parts of opening a school, like licensing, hiring great teachers and filling classrooms, are exactly what we’re built for,” Fleming says. “We carry that load so churches can pour their energy into ministry.”
Brechner also stresses involving ministry leaders early, especially the children’s ministry team, to build support and identify competing needs.
“That’s important — to make sure that they feel like it’s not being done to them, it’s being done with them.”
For Chase Oaks, partnering with Learning Care has made it possible to meet a community need, strengthen connections with families, and put existing facilities to more productive use — while leaving the day-to-day operations to an experienced childcare provider.
