The Spark
The Church at Sugar Creek is the only house of worship in the Child Care Advantage report—and Bradley Gray, the church’s Minister of Discipleship and Community, isn’t surprised. The Humboldt church had just come through a major generational transition. Two longtime ministers—one after 18 years, another after 25—had retired, and the church was recruiting young leaders to serve a congregation that was itself getting younger and growing fast. But nonprofits can’t always compete on salary with the secular workforce, and headhunters are always pulling on talented young ministers. The church needed something beyond a paycheck to attract and keep the people it wanted for the long haul.
The Solution
Sugar Creek already had an asset most employers don’t: a state-licensed daycare operating on its campus as a church ministry. The daycare serves about 60 children from the community, employs over 25 staff, runs from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and is financially self-sustaining through enrollment revenue. It meets all state licensing requirements for class size, safety, and accreditation, and serves two meals and two snacks daily. The church provides the building, contributes to insurance and utilities, and oversees finances through its accounting department—but the daycare operates independently.
The church’s move was to fold daycare enrollment into the compensation package for staff with young families. When a minister is hired, free child care at the on-site daycare is offered as part of the deal—alongside full health insurance with no payroll deduction. The church pays the daycare the same rate any community family would pay, approximately $300 per week per child. Currently, three staff children are enrolled. The most recent hire, a youth pastor who started one month ago, will enroll his son Samuel when he’s born in July.
Bradley is emphatic that this is real money, not a soft perk. The church budget absorbs the full cost—roughly $14,400 per child per year—just as it would absorb the cost of health insurance or housing allowance. By paying the daycare at full rate, the church keeps the daycare’s economics intact and avoids creating a discount that would need to be subsidized by community families.
The arrangement also created an unexpected benefit. Because the daycare shares renovated space with the church’s children’s ministry, the building investment served double duty: state-compliant security systems, check-in protocols, and classroom design that families now cite as a reason they visit the church. On any given weekday, 30 cars sit in the parking lot—visible proof of life in a town where most churches sit empty between Sundays.
The Results
The benefit’s impact shows up most clearly in the hiring conversation. Bradley says candidates are visibly shocked when he walks them through the package: full health insurance with no deduction, plus free child care worth $14,400 a year. Combined, that’s roughly $18,000 in annual benefits on top of salary—compensation that a larger church offering a bigger office or a bigger youth group simply doesn’t match.
Retention is the metric that matters most. Church ministry is a field where longevity defines impact—Sugar Creek isn’t looking for 18-month tenures. When a young minister weighs whether the grass is greener somewhere else, the $300 a week they’re not paying for child care is a powerful anchor. As Bradley puts it: no matter what decision they make somewhere else, they’re going to have to deal with that very expensive issue.
THE BLUEPRINT
Investment: The church pays the daycare the same weekly rate as any community family—approximately $300 per child per week, currently covering three staff children. That’s roughly $46,800 per year in child care benefits, funded through the church’s operating budget. The daycare itself is financially self-sustaining through enrollment revenue from its 60 children.
Timeline: The daycare was already operating as a church ministry before the benefit was formalized. Renovating shared space for both the daycare and children’s ministry took approximately three years. Adding child care to a new hire’s compensation package is immediate.
Partners: None external. The daycare is a ministry of the church, state-licensed and independently operated, with its own staff of 25+ and its own financial accountability. The church’s accounting department provides financial oversight.
Key Decision: Treating child care as real compensation—not a soft perk. The church writes a check to the daycare at full price for every staff child, just as any community family would pay. This keeps the daycare financially solvent and ensures the benefit is sustainable rather than subsidized by the daycare’s own margins.
Their Advice: “If you want employee longevity, this is a major way to do it. Their child care is provided, and no matter what decision they make somewhere else, they’re going to have to deal with that very expensive issue.”