Summer Welcome for Children & Families

Thanks to Ruth Sall for writing up this Great Idea on the SparkHouse blog.

Ruth Sall is the Director for Children’s Ministry and Music at Abington Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania.

She writes, ‘One of the challenges my congregation has faced in the past few years is providing a consistent welcome to visiting families over the summer months… We have identified this weakness in our ministry and are taking some steps to do better at welcoming and greeting Sunday morning visitors…’

That’s a key first step: identifying the ‘weakness’!

At the close of the well-attended worship service this Sunday, I greeted a young family with two children – they had never been there before but left the sanctuary with smiles. As the visiting pastor, I had little opportunity to focus on getting to know them or connecting with them in a significant way. Unfortunately, though the congregation frequently laments ‘not having any young people’, there were no protocols or resources for engaging the family or sending any information, learning tools, or connection-building resources home with them.

Sall’s congregation now offers every visiting child:

  • a welcome in every weekly bulletin that includes:
    • name and email of children’s ministry director
    • notes about their summer Sunday school class
  • a greeting card just for children
    • a simple ‘Hello! We’re glad you’re here!

Year-round visitors receive:

  • a Spark Family magazine – which offers a glimpse of their regularly used:
    • Spark Story Bible
    • Spark Sunday school curriculum

The article was written for the SparkHouse blog, so obviously the above resources could be replaced with comparable resources from other publishers/curricula. Such as:

  • During Lent this past year, ushers handed these Lenten Spirals out to everyone – spirals were a theme in our intergenerational Wednesday night gatherings.
  • I wish I’d had something like this 30 Days of Prayer Tracker to share with the young family of visitors this past Sunday.

There are no end of hand-out options that can tie what’s happening in worship (and hopefully that’s already tied to what’s happening in study times) to at-home family time.

A key step, though, is encouraging people other than the Children’s Ministry Director, to be responsible for greeting visitors on Sundays throughout the summer. Obviously, for congregations who have no Children’s Ministry Director, this is an important idea, too. A small group of people, knowledgeable about opportunities for children and their families to engage in the life of the congregation, are an essential asset in this role. This way, folx can take vacations, or just not be ‘on duty’ every week, yet a kind and knowledgeable person is ready to cheerfully greet visiting families.

Read the full blog post here.

The Ministry Lab is always available to support your pursuit of a Great Idea. Let us know and we’ll connect you with resources, ideas, and encouragement!!!