A ministry fair is a great way to reach potential volunteers in
your church. Hosting one can add an atmosphere of celebration to
your church and help people get excited about serving God. If
you've been to a trade show, you know there's an array of vendors
at tables and/or booths. A ministry fair is much like that, where
tables or booths are set up for each of your church's ministries.
Ministry leaders promote the opportunities for serving in their
areas.
Our church's ministries have used food, videos, props, hands-on
experiences, skateboard ramps, and other methods of drawing curious
people to their booths. You might find a ministry fair would help
at your church, too. Depending on the size of your church, your
ministry fair may be a few tables or take up an entire facility.
Regardless of size, here are some key elements to help you plan a
fair that fits your church and meets your goals:
1. Purpose
Take a step back and ask why you're having a ministry fair.
People won't buy into the event unless they know what it's for.
Write a short purpose statement, such as, "The ministry fair's
purpose is to help people grow spiritually by finding a place to
serve."
What are your goals? If your primary goal is to get people
involved in ministry, how can you set up your ministry fair for
success? If you find that numerical goals help you in planning,
establish the number of people you want to sign up to explore a
ministry.
2. Plan
Schedule the planning process so that you have enough time to
put the event together. A rough plan might include:
- Putting together a proposal for the fair and getting it
approved by your church leadership.
- Determining financial needs and getting approval by
leadership.
- Setting a date for the fair. Look at your church calendar to
see when a fair might be of the most benefit. Avoid major church
events or holidays so you can attract maximum attendance.
- Gathering a team to help plan the event.
- Finalizing the location and time of the event. We try to hold
our events in a centralized location after each of our Sunday
services.
- Contacting ministry leaders to research their serving
opportunities. Ask the leaders to participate in the fair and to
have a plan for following up with people who express an interest in
serving.
- Putting together an information card for each serving
opportunity so that people who come to the table can take one for
more information and consideration. On the card, include
information such as: description of the opportunity, time,
location, length of commitment, contact person, and any special
skills required.
- Planning a sign-up process so you can collect names and contact
information. Sign-up sheets or cards work well, but have a plan for
where these sheets or cards will go after the fair. We use
carbonless two-part paper so that the leader can take a copy home
and the church office can have a copy to process.
- Promoting the fair in multiple ways. Promotion from up front
(either the teaching pastor or a leader plugging the event) is key
to the fair being successful. Without promotion, people won't see
the value of the fair and won't attend.
- Thinking of ways to make it exciting and festive. Use banners,
lots of colors, balloons, streamers, food, or other elements that
will create a celebrative atmosphere.
- Communicating setup guidelines to ministry leaders. Encourage
them to be creative in promoting their ministry. Assign each leader
to a table and tell them to decorate as lavishly as they want.
3. People
Put together a team that will be able to effectively plan your
event. Whether the fair is large or small, don't go it alone.
Having at least one other person to help eases the burden and is
more fun too! (Not to mention that you're modeling equipping that
person to do the job.) When you recruit a team, find people who are
gifted in different areas. Some of the positions to consider for
your team are:
- Ministry leader coordinator-communicates with ministry leaders
and helps them determine best way to promote their ministries.
- Data management-organizes volunteering opportunities and
displays them in a consistent manner so that people can clearly see
the ways they can volunteer.
- Facility logistics-handles facility reservations, table
set-ups, and equipment rental, if needed.
- Publications-prints flyers, sign-up cards/sheets, brochures,
maps, signage, and promotional materials.
- Décor-oversees table covers, themed decorations, and name
tags/uniforms/shirts.
- Follow-up-processes sign-ups, contacts potential volunteers,
and helps them get connected.
- Prayer coordinator-covers event with prayer.
4. Place
You'll need a place to hold your fair. It may be in a room or
lobby, or in multiple rooms. We find that putting tables near each
other facilitates the best traffic flow, and that slow areas
benefit greatly with enticing refreshments. Some locations to
consider might be:
- Hallways/lobbies
- Gym/fellowship hall
- A large room or multiple rooms close by each other
- The back of the worship center/sanctuary if there's enough
room
- A large outdoor tent in the parking lot
- Outdoor patio area
Consider traffic flow, lighting, temperature, and height of
ceiling (for signage). Will you need electricity or kitchen
facilities? These factors may determine where your fair is located.
Outdoor fairs have their own challenges-shade so leaders don't get
sunburned, rocks to hold down materials if there's wind, and a
backup plan for rain.
5. Promotion
Just putting a fair together doesn't guarantee success. If you
don't have a plan for promoting and building anticipation for the
event, people won't attend. We've found that attendance of our
ministry promotional events is most successful when it's tied into
a sermon series on serving or when the event is talked about
regularly in the weeks beforehand. Repetition is an important part
of getting through to people, because most people don't hear things
(or at least well enough to remember them) the first time. Try to
tie your ministry fair into a plan for promoting the bigger picture
of serving.
After the event, evaluate how things went. Did the event meet
your goals? How should things have been done differently
logistically, or be streamlined for next time? How was the fair
from both the ministry leaders' and attendees' point of view?
An effective ministry fair can have a great impact-both for
ministries who build their volunteer base, and volunteers who will
grow and learn spiritually as they serve God and follow Christ's
example of servanthood. Developing an organized plan will help you
create a fair that functions smoothly and meets your goals!
Angela Yee is the pastor of service and communications at
Bridges Community Church in Fremont, California. She also is the
author of The Christian Conference Planner: Organizing Effective
Events, Conferences, Retreats, Seminars and Workshops (www.summitstarpress.com.)
