Summer Sundays – It Worked For Me!

In 2018, I felt Life Church needed to do something to see a rise in our attendance from first-time guests, and to have attendance remain constant or rise during the summer months. I felt that is was vital to developing a growth mindset in our church body to avoid long periods of time with no first time guests. We, as a church, decided to use the last Sunday of each month, July-October as a Family Fun and Open House day. We chose a new theme each month, complete with food, decorations, and family activities. Some of our events included:

– Summer Fun Sunday Theme- Attire is Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses, water games, and a cookout.
– Back-To-School Lumberjack Sunday- People were encouraged to “channel the flannel” and wear plaid, enjoyed a pancake breakfast, experience a live wood carving demonstration.
– Harvest Party-Trunk or Treat, bounce house, bumper balls, free pumpkins, a truck from the Local Fire Department, and a Christmas open house- horse drawn carriage rides.

The purpose of these events is threefold:
(1) To have a service format where guests could come and check out the church with their entire family and we could connect with them at church in a relaxed setting. The service format was 45 min. to one hour long with worship, prayer and testimonies by new converts, briefly telling what the church meant to them, and a brief ten minute message, followed by food and family activities.
(2) A platform where all church members could be involved in serving and ministering to guests. They were able to see a guest visit for the first time, join a Bible Study, repent, receive the Holy Ghost, be baptized and become disciples. Everyone is able to feel they are part of the process. 14 people were baptized and received the Holy Ghost July-October.
(3) To set a goal as a church and accomplish it. In 2018 our average attendance was 55. We set a goal to have 100 in a Sunday service. In July attendance was 70, August-75, September-103, and October-106.

I believe it was beneficial for us in a couple of ways. Anticipation and expectancy was created for individuals to be born again on a regular basis in our services. We also grew in a serving and ministry capacity.