Easter is always an exciting time in our faith communities. It’s also a wonderful time of year to connect young families into the life of your church through outreach events. Families are looking for fun weekend gatherings and events to get outside! Here are a few suggestions to consider for reaching new families in your setting:
Kid-Friendly Ash Wednesday Worship Experience
These ideas can be used to create something new or to incorporate into what you are already doing. The half hour or hour before your evening Ash Wednesday service, offer an interactive opportunity for families with young kids to engage in the Lenten Journey together. This could be indoors or outdoors, depending on weather. Begin with a “gathering moment” to explain the meaning of Ash Wednesday and the imposition of the ashes in a way kids can understand. You might set up various interactive stations, such as a prayer wall where kids and their families can place post-it notes on the wall with their prayers. Place a few examples up before they arrive (ie. prayers of healing for my grandmom, prayers for our first responders, etc.) You might offer a “forgiveness” station where kids and their grown-ups are invited to spell out a mistake (or simply make a mark) in bins or tubs of sand as an act of confession. Provide them with a simple prayer of forgiveness to offer to God as they wipe it away. You could offer a “remembering your baptism” station where loved ones are invited to dip their finger in water and make the sign of the cross on one another’s foreheads while saying to each other: “Remember your baptism and be embraced by the grace of Jesus.” Finally, include a station where they receive the imposition of ashes upon their foreheads or their hands. You might gather everyone once more for a closing corporate prayer of confession.
Host an Egg Hunt at a Popular Park
Try spreading the word in your local town’s social media event pages for a FREE egg hunt on Palm Sunday weekend. This is an opportune weekend to hand out invitations to join you for Easter worship the next weekend. Offer a meaningful craft station, a mission project station, a cookie decorating station, and more. Consider inviting some local vendors or food trucks, your police or fire department. Offer to take family photos with the Easter bunny and create a backdrop about your church. As they share their pics on social media, your church’s service times are shared.
Host a Yard Party with Your Neighbors
Invite church members who live in strategic neighborhoods around your community to host a FREE yard party. Provide yard games and food, even animals that are safe for petting. Include inflatables, if you plan ahead and budget. Consider giving them yard signs to invite others from their yard(s) ahead of time. Have your pastor and kid’s ministry leader(s) drop by to connect. Send everyone home with a bag of homemade cookies and a personal invitation to worship at your church. On Sunday, share pics from the party and invite other church members to host the next one. Make it a seasonal tradition.
These events can be great catalysts for connecting with young families in your community. A key element to offering any of these events is gathering some young parents to help plan and execute the event. When they are invested in the creative design and implementation, they will naturally invite all their friends and neighbors to come. Be sure to have ways to gather contact information and follow up with a doorstep gift, text, phone call, or email offering a personal invitation to connect with your faith community.
The Easter season is about hope and the joy of the risen Christ. May we all seek ways to joyfully spread and share this hope with everyone in our communities, especially the youngest!
Jason Gant is a licensed local pastor in the United Methodist Church and leads Resurrection’s ministry with children and families across all of our locations, including online. You will often find him dreaming of new ways to do effective ministry…or way out on a mountain stream fly fishing! He is married to Scharme, and they have two teenage daughters.