Why Our Children and Family Ministry Mascot Is… a Sloth

When people first see our Children and Family Ministry mascot—a friendly, wide-eyed sloth—they usually smile. Sloths are cute and the best of animals. Still, sloths don’t seem like the obvious choice for a ministry that’s full of energy, movement, and growing disciples.

But the sloth turns out to be the perfect teacher for us, not because of slowness alone, but because of what kind of slowness it represents.

Acedía: The Wrong Kind of Slow

The early Christians used a word that’s unfamiliar to most of us today: acedía. Sometimes translated as sloth, it isn’t really about moving slowly. Acedia is resistance to the demands of love. Acedía is the inner fog that keeps us from caring, praying, or reaching out. It might look like binge-watching TV on the couch, but it could also be keeping a really busy schedule. Anything that lets us avoid the work of loving each other. Acedía isn’t about pace—it’s about apathy. It’s closing our hearts. It’s losing our “yes” to God and to one another.

That’s not the sloth we’ve chosen.

The Slow, Meditative Way of Love

There’s another kind of slowness the Christian tradition celebrates: a slowness that is steady, rooted, and attentive. It’s the slowness of someone who stops long enough to notice the person beside them. It’s the unhurried rhythm of prayer, wonder, curiosity, and compassion.

This is the slowness of Jesus—who refused to rush past children, who paused to heal, who stopped to bless, and who taught that the kingdom of God grows like seeds hidden slowly in the earth.

Our sloth mascot represents this kind of slowness.

A Sloth’s Long Arms of Love

One of the most delightful things about sloths is the way they stretch their long arms around the branches that hold them. It’s a gentle, secure embrace—never frantic, never forced.

What a perfect image for the life we hope to cultivate in our children and families:

• Love that reaches out. Not hurried, but intentional.

• Love that holds on. Not grasping, but steady.

• Love that wraps its arms around others with warmth and welcome.

We want our community to practice this kind of patient care—stretching out our long “arms” to include those who feel left out, scared, or unsure. The sloth reminds us that love doesn’t have to be fast to be strong.

Learning from Our Sloth Together

Schedules, speed, and noise often surround children. They feel the pressure adults feel. Our sloth reminds them—and us—that we don’t have to rush our way toward God. We can slow down enough to notice where Jesus is at work. We can move at the pace of wonder.

We don’t strive, hustle, or panic our way into the kingdom. We simply keep showing up, slowly and lovingly, with our arms open wide.

A Mascot With a Message

So yes—our mascot is a sloth. Not because we want to encourage laziness, but because we want to reject acedía,and embrace a life shaped by the slow, meditative way of love.

A way that pauses.

A way that notices.

A way that reaches.

A way that holds.

A way that wraps its long arms in welcome around every child and every family.