ASHLAND, Ky. — If the future of our community is its children, one area church wants to ensure the future of our children by taking an active role in their early educational and spiritual development.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church will open a daycare and preschool at its 1320 Bath Ave., Ashland, education building.

It will be called Christ’s Kids. The target opening date is Aug. 10. Parents are invited to enroll their child now; the church is also accepting applications for teacher and assistant teacher positions.

“Opening our preschool is part of our mission heritage as we desire to provide a service to our community,” the Rev. Mark Kloha, pastor at St. Paul for 20 years, said.

A bequest given to the church in recent years has provided the initiative to give the classroom area of the church a makeover and the resources to open the school.

It was decided to expand to daycare to provide a service to working parents.

Mary Robinson, member of the board of directors, said the church firmly believes in the importance of early faith-based education as the foundation on which to build a life will be successful and reflect the Lord’s goodness.

The project has encountered some speed bumps along the way as some zoning issues were to be resolved.

Having received approval from the city zoning commission in February, the Board of Directors has been going about the business of applying for licensure, developing policies, and searching for staff, as well as the physical preparation.

The school is actually a reopening-of-sorts as the church sponsored a K-6 school that closed in the mid 70’s due to lack of funding.

The hours for the preschool and daycare will be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Applications for enrollment and employment may be found at the website www.stpaulsashland.org. or by calling (606) 324-7729.