When we think about the most anticipated events of the year for your church, Easter and Christmas are at the top of the list. Those two holidays are not only the most significant for Christians spiritually, they are also the two greatest opportunities for community outreach and the times of highest attendance. However there’s a third period you shouldn’t overlook: Back to School.
Different times, same opportunity
Many of us grew up with the school year starting the day after Labor Day in September, and for some schools that’s still the case. Others, it starts in late August. More recently, particularly in the Southeast, some schools start their new year in early August. Regardless of when the school year starts in your area, it seems to signal a time when families agree vacation is over, trips are done, time to go back to school and back to church.
This is a different kind of opportunity than that presented at Christmas and Easter. When you see attendees then, your mission is to convince them to come not just those one or two times a year, but more often, ideally year-round. When back to school season starts, you’re seeing the return of people who are already members, whom you need to get more active with the church. With that in mind, try these strategies to build engagement:
- Improve your online presence
- Make sure your website is inviting, informative, and inspiring
- Connect with your audience through social media and expand your reach
- Improve the quality of your streamed church services.
- Have an effective message
- Introduce new educational content that fulfills a current need
- Improve and promote children’s ministry events and activities
- Show how your church benefits individuals, and the community as a whole.
- Develop a plan to promote your church this season.
- Create an Autumn campaign with a focus on creativity, specific to your church
- Use social media to grab peoples’ attention and drive them to your church website or streaming channel
- Use email campaigns that will engage your attendees and volunteer staff
- Fire up your leadership and volunteer teams who will help you in this effort