We don’t have any children at our church, so we don’t plan children’s events. So you’re OK with the lack
of children in your church then, because what are they supposed to come to?
Remember the movie Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come”?
How can you get children in to your church, or even their families for that matter, if you don’t have
anything planned for them? Children bring in adults to a congregation. They can also take them out,
when there is a lack of activities for their faith formation.
But they all go to that…Lutheran, Catholic, Non-denominational across town. Why? Because that church
planned for them.
Every church needs to have a plan for potential children coming in to their church…if there are no
children, there are no young families. Without young families to build your church, you will die. Your
congregation isn’t sustaining, let alone growing.Start small. Have a schedule and promote it – even BEFORE you have kids.
Promote what you are doing:
junior church, children’s church, Sunday school, craft day, event night, or Christmas event. It’s better to
plan and have one or two show up and start somewhere than it is to keep saying we don’t have any,
why bother?
There might not be any in attendance for awhile – but how long have you been lacking a children’s plan?
It could take awhile for your attendance to grow, but you must try. Not trying is waving the white flag
and allowing your church to slowly age out and eventually close.
Don’t be that church. Start somewhere. Take a small step. Try and keep trying. The kids will come with planning, promotion and enthusiasm.