Making our children’s ministry more inviting in our environments matters…a LOT! But that doesn’t mean that everything we do has to be hard or expensive. There are easy ways to improve our ministry environments which will instantly make them more inviting to parents and kids. Here are a few ideas to get started:
10 Ways to Make Your Children’s Ministry More Inviting
1. Make your children’s ministry more inviting starting with the parking lot.
I visit a lot of churches and I’m often amazed at two things. First, at how poorly cared for the parking lot area is and, second, how difficult it is to find the Children’s Ministry (which is what I’m usually looking for). Next time you drive into your church parking lot, look at it from the perspective of a first-time visiting family—and make changes accordingly.
2. Make your children’s ministry more inviting by being obviously safe.
Signage, check-in requirements, people with bright orange vests…whatever you need to do to communicate that they are entering (and dropping their kids off in) a safe environment—do it.
3. Make your children’s ministry more inviting by brightening things up.
Have you ever walked into a dark area that was supposed to be for kids? Enough said.
4. Music matters.
Have you ever walked into a room that was supposed to be for kids which was dead silent? Enough said.
5. Be ready and waiting.
Don’t make families figure things out for themselves. When they arrive at church, they need to figure out how to get their kids checked in, where they are going to drop them off, where the bathrooms are, how to get from where they are to the Worship Center, what they’re going to do with the pager, and on and on. There’s a LOT to figure out, and usually in a short period of time (because what visitor wants to walk in late to the Worship Center?). Greeters ought to be as much a part of your team as teachers.
