Outreach Tips: Intentional Ways to Befriend New Families

Every outreach effort you undertake can be effective if you approach it from a practical perspective. Consider these outreach tips!

Outreach. The word alone suggests a powerful connection and relevance to a greater power. You may have a ministry in your church solely dedicated to outreach, or you may find ways to weave it into your everyday programming.

Every outreach effort you undertake can be effective if you approach it from a practical perspective. Consider these four outreach tips!

Outreach Tips: Practical Ways to Connect and Engage

1. Prepare and train.

You can’t assume that your team knows how to engage newcomers. With outreach in mind, you want every moment spent with guests to be meaningful, and that requires preparation on your part and training for your team.

2. Plan for guests.

Set a goal for how you want guests to be handled in your ministry. Do you want a personal connection with each newcomer? your teachers to make a personal connection with parents? Decide your measurement for successful guest encounters beforehand, and communicate your expectations to your team.

3. Prepare accordingly.

Once you’ve set goals, it’s up to you to equip your team to successfully meet those goals. If you want all guests to walk away with more information about your program, create the material and put it in your team’s hands.

4. Be timely.

Whether it’s follow-up, new family meetings, teacher training, or simply being concise in your daily communication, be on time, stay within the time you’ve promised, and don’t waste people’s time.

Quick Ideas for Outreach

Need some ideas to apply these outreach tips? Check out these two simple ideas to get you started!

1. Connect new families.

Consider hosting a quarterly, casual “Meet-and-Greet Gathering” to introduce newly attending families to your church families and get them connected. Simply reserve a room, add refreshments, and schedule it during a time families are already at church. Encourage your regularly attending families to welcome new families and tell them about their experiences with your church and Sunday school ministry.

2. Share where you’re headed.

Bless families in your church team with a vision breakfast one morning before Sunday school. Use this time between pancakes and toast to let everyone know the purpose and vision of your Sunday school ministry and how it relates to the church and kids’ faith growth as a whole. Invite families to ask questions and share their stories about how the Sunday school ministry has impacted them.

These outreach tips come from Group’s Sunday School That Works! This book provides practical solutions to help you strengthen and enrich your Sunday school ministry while maximizing what you’re already doing. For even more outreach ideas, check out these posts!