6 family-pleasing ideas that'll help family members
learn about each other and their faith!
Go, go, go! That's all families do today. They're frazzled from
running to meetings, lessons, sporting events, school activities,
church, work, parties...they long for a break just to be a family
for once.
How can your church programs help families feel closer instead
of fragmenting them even more? Provide events that bring families
together. Get started with these intergenerational family-time
ideas.
- We schedule meetings for different ages all on one
night of the week. Then we bring families together before
the meetings start with a low-cost meal, such as spaghetti, a salad
bar, or tacos. Church members serve dinner for $1 (kids pay less).
We have "dinnertainment"-people act out parts in simple skits. I
bring photocopies of instant skits and assign roles on the spot. We
also provide activities for children, such as balloon-blowing
contests or simple relays. We recognize people who received honors
during the week, such as kids making the honor roll. Each week,
families update their prayer needs and answers to prayer on our
prayer chart. We have a flannel-backed bulletin board with a tree
shape on it. Family members write prayer requests on Velcro-backed
leaves and put them on the tree for everyone to pray for during the
week.
-- Joan Zeldenrust, a Christian education director in Lansing,
Illinois
- We use family nights to build community. We
make giant dominoes by cutting 3 X 4-foot cards out of tagboard,
cardboard, or poster board. We draw a line down the middle and
paint dots like dominoes, such as six dots on one side and three on
the other. We make several dominoes with a blank side. We spread
out the dominoes on the floor. Then we start the music and have
people walk around the dominoes. When the music stops, family
members each put their toe on a dot. The blank space can hold as
many people as necessary. Each time we stop the music, we remove
one domino but always leave a domino with a blank side on it. No
one is eliminated. Family members help others get on dominoes so
that everyone has a place each time the music stops.
-- Glenn Bannerman, president of Bannerman Family Celebration
Services, Inc., in Montreat, North Carolina
- We have a fun family night every third Friday
night. It's an easy, uncomplicated, informal time to
socialize. Each family brings a pizza and liter of soft drink.
Families eat together and play volleyball. Young children watch
videos. Sometimes we go to someone's pool to swim.
Judy Kile, director of education, youth, and evangelism in
Kansas City, Missouri
- Our families enjoy making pizza together. We
have all the supplies at the church when families arrive. They pay
a small fee to cover the cost. Families make the dough, top it, and
let it cook. While it's cooking, we have a short devotional.
-- Keith Johnson, pastor of children's
ministry, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
- We have a family talent show once a year.
Families prepare acts to do together. We also have individual
family members perform. We serve light refreshments and enjoy one
another's talents. -- Kathie Taylor, a Sunday school teacher in
Stamford, Connecticut
- We connect families to the uniqueness of our
church. For example, I dressed mannequins with church
vestments. I made signs for different parts of our church such as
"Hi, I'm the narthex. It's like worshipping in an ark." When
families arrived, we had a short family worship. Then I gave each
family a list of 40 to 50 items to find in the church. Families
have 20 minutes to find the items. Afterward, I gave them a list of
questions to discuss: What was something new you learned? What
funny thing happened to you? What were the most meaningful things
that happened to you? -- Dick Hardel of the Augsburg Youth and
Family Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Excerpted from Children's Ministry Magazine. Subscribe
now!
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The Family-Friendly Church
This book is a must-have for every pastor! Discover how
certain programming can often short-circuit your church's ability
to truly strengthen families-and what you can do about it! You'll
get practical ideas and suggestions featuring profiles of real
churches.
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