What is your favorite time of year? I’m not necessarily talking about climate like Spring or Summer but rather activities that are going on. As a pastor, certainly Christmas and Easter were always at the top of my list because of their significance as the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But my next favorite season of the year is the one we are in right now: Back To School. It is during this time that lots of activity happens and there are many ways that you may impact your community and help to grow your church.
If you minister in a college town you may want to gather some of your college age folks and help in-coming students move into their dorm rooms. For years at the church I served at we hosted a “Back To School Barbecue” where we gave away hamburgers and hot dogs to college students. In each instance we handed out invitations to our college ministry.
Middle School and High School students can be attracted through a “Back To School Bash” You can rent out your local public swimming pool, get a D.J. to play positive Christian music and have your youth leadership team on hand to serve snacks.
Each year around this time, our church’s children’s ministry puts on an annual KIDFEST. We have hosted this event in parks, at center court of the local Mall and in our own building. At KIDFEST families can enjoy free hot dogs, pop, popcorn, cotton candy, games, face painting, balloon animals and inflatables. This is a great way to promote upcoming message series on families and to kick off to your children’s ministry season.
A real winning portion for back to school is “Free Haircuts for Kids” For years our church would partner with a cosmetology school to offer free haircuts for kids entering kindergarten up to 5th grade. Even if you do not have a beauty school in your community you can invite the hair cutters in your congregation to each invite a colleague to join them in this half day service project. What started off small, blossomed into an annual event where over 130 kids got free haircuts just in time for school to start.
For more ideas on how to reach out and attract people to your church at this most important season contact me at kyle@effectivechurch.com
Back To School
What is your favorite time of year? I’m not necessarily talking about climate like Spring or Summer but rather activities that are going on. As a pastor, certainly Christmas and Easter were always at the top of my list because of their significance as the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But my next favorite season of the year is the one we are in right now: Back To School. It is during this time that lots of activity happens and there are many ways that you may impact your community and help to grow your church.
If you minister in a college town you may want to gather some of your college age folks and help in-coming students move into their dorm rooms. For years at the church I served at we hosted a “Back To School Barbecue” where we gave away hamburgers and hot dogs to college students. In each instance we handed out invitations to our college ministry.
Middle School and High School students can be attracted through a “Back To School Bash” You can rent out your local public swimming pool, get a D.J. to play positive Christian music and have your youth leadership team on hand to serve snacks.
Each year around this time, our church’s children’s ministry puts on an annual KIDFEST. We have hosted this event in parks, at center court of the local Mall and in our own building. At KIDFEST families can enjoy free hot dogs, pop, popcorn, cotton candy, games, face painting, balloon animals and inflatables. This is a great way to promote upcoming message series on families and to kick off to your children’s ministry season.
A real winning portion for back to school is “Free Haircuts for Kids” For years our church would partner with a cosmetology school to offer free haircuts for kids entering kindergarten up to 5th grade. Even if you do not have a beauty school in your community you can invite the hair cutters in your congregation to each invite a colleague to join them in this half day service project. What started off small, blossomed into an annual event where over 130 kids got free haircuts just in time for school to start.
For more ideas on how to reach out and attract people to your church at this most important season contact me at kyle@effectivechurch.com
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