My son, Alex, is one of a bunch of kids who go to our church, Askewville Assembly of God.

Every week the people who are responsible for Children’s Church – Brenda and Henderson Hoggard and a host of others who help them – prepare for a couple dozen or more youngsters.

We also provide Children’s Church on Sunday night and there is something for the children on Wednesday. All of that, I believe, is wonderful.

What it does, however, is mean that our children – like many others in the region – don’t spend as much time with their pastor as the adults do.

Well, for a couple of days last week that all changed. Our pastor, the Rev. R.O. Denton Jr., and his wife, Cheryl, spent three days hosting the children of our church in the youth room.

“Pizza with Pastor” offered the children in certain age groups the opportunity to spend time with their pastor eating, playing and praying.

From the first time I heard about the event, I thought it would be a really neat idea.

I had no idea that it would be such an exciting event for the children of our congregation.

Alex was with his mother the Sunday the three-day series was announced and I signed him up to be a participant last Thursday when Pastor was hosting the four through six year olds.

The child was ecstatic from the moment I told him about the event. He began talking about it that day and it continued right up until he had the opportunity to go.

Every day between his finding out about it and the actual event, Alex would ask how long it was going to be until he had the opportunity to spend time with one of his pastors. (He also attends Center Grove Baptist Church with his mother and the Rev. Dr. Tommy Kiker is his pastor there.)

I got home at 5 p.m. the day he was to have his day away and he walked out the door, hugged me and said, “I’m ready to go to eat pizza with Pastor.”

He was disappointed when he found out he had to wait another hour.

Once he finally had his evening with Pastor and the other children his age, he came home beaming and talking about how much fun he had eating with his pastor and sharing his prayer concerns with him.

On Sunday, other children and parents told the same story. It was exciting to see how much the children appreciated the time with their pastor.

I think too often we forget that children who are brought up in church have a reverence for their pastor and spending time with him or her one on one is a real treat. Maybe some of us adults should remember that’s true too.

It certainly taught me to value the time I spend with my pastor and to not take it for granted.

Thadd White is Staff Writer and Sports Editor of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. He can be reached via email at thadd.white@r-cnews.com or by telephone at 332-7211.