Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC

All of them less than four feet tall, the boys and girls are lined up on the Chapel of the Cross playground in their Sunday best, trying to stand still.

"21, 22, 23 - 23 children today," says Joy Gattis, Sunday Morning Child Care Director, as the line threatens to unravel. "We can go now," she says to Kellen, her son and playground assistant, and they open the gate and shepherd the children off to Children's Chapel.

The gate to the playground or the door to the nursery may be the first threshold crossed by a young family visiting our church, and it could be "Miss Joy" as she is affectionately called and not the rector, Stephen Elkins-Williams, who gets to offer the first warm welcome. "We're often the first impression visitors get of the Chapel of the Cross," Joy says. "People shop for churches. When we show them the resources we offer, they are enthusiastic." But a complete nursery for babies and toddlers, a safety-approved playground for children ages two to five, and the creative lessons and songs of Children's Chapel are incidental to the resource visitors and members most appreciate: Joy and her staff - seasoned professionals who welcome children with open arms and inspire confidence in the parents who say good-bye to their little ones to attend church.

Each Sunday morning beginning at 8:45 and continuing through the 11:15 service, Wanda Farrington, hired by Joy in 1986, and Susan Sylvester, hired in 1997, cuddle and calm the babies and toddlers in the nursery. A third nursery helper, Viveca Coutinho, joined the staff in August, as did Lawtnee Frazier, a "floater" between nursery and playground. On the playground or in the Student Center during wet or cold weather, Joy, Kellen, and parent helpers tend the older kids, keeping track of them with sign-ins, sign-outs, and head counts and keeping them safe and happy before, during, and after their trip to Children's Chapel. In the past two years, attendance has increased markedly and volunteer caregivers are always welcome. "It used to be 10 to 15 children," said Kellen, who joined his mother on the staff in 1995. "Now, average attendance is 30 for the first service - and we've had as many as 50 on Palm Sunday."

Joy originally worked at the Chapel of the Cross from 1973 to 1978 as a caregiver in the nursery. She returned as director in 1985 and counts among her many administrative duties enrollment, hiring, payroll, buying supplies, and maintaining the childcare facilities. Her most cherished role is that of our church's Sunday morning Mary Poppins, comforting babies, toddlers, and preschoolers alike in her gentle British lilt. "I continue to delight in the time I spend with our younger church members," Joy says. "I am so proud to be part of the long tradition of offering a loving and safe environment for children so their parents may attend church secure that their children are well cared for."

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