How to Get Returning Visitors: Check Your Kids Ministry

One of the topics that most frequently comes up when talking to churches that are considering Breeze is how to help new visitors connect with their church.  Churches are very interested in making this process as smooth as possible and rightly so; it ties very closely to Jesus' words to make disciples.

A few months ago I (Jon) had the privilege of connecting with Jeffrey Kranz who works in the church and non-profit marketing space.  We got to talking about this issue and he thought that Jayson Bradley, a writer and pastor he's connected with, would have some great insight to share on helping visitors connect.  And so today's blog post comes from Jayson.  I hope it helps you serve your visitors even better!

Breeze’s church management software provides everything a church needs to manage its loose ends, so they get to interact with a lot of churches. One question that seems to come up again and again is:

“What can we do to get first time visitors to come back?”

This question covers many important elements. While they can’t all be covered in one simple blog post, one of the first places I would look at is your children’s ministry.

Children’s ministry and visitor retention

Children have a profound effect on parents’ view of church. Many parents who have wandered away from church in their teen years start rethinking that relationship when they begin having children. In fact, a lot of adults who have never had any relationship to the church begin to question faith and church involvement when they have kids.

Even when families come from other churches, one of the most important things they’ll look at is the children’s ministry. Some of the questions that will drive their decision to come back include: Is this children’s ministry safe? Is it well managed? Do my kids enjoy it?

Looking at your ministry again, for the first time

A key to setting up a church to start getting more follow-up visits is by thinking like a new visitor, and looking at every one of their touchpoints to your church through their eyes,

Because we become acclimated to the strengths and weaknesses of our church, we forget what it must look like from a new person’s perspective. Learning to see our ministry anew through the eyes of first-time visitors is a major step toward making the kinds of dramatic changes that will keep people coming back.

So let’s look at some of the questions you need to be asking yourself about your kids’ ministry.

Nursery

A church nursery is often a missed opportunity for a win. Because it’s often seen as a requisite need that facilitates the service, it can be overlooked as an area that should be driven by convictions and intentionality. Some questions visitors might be asking themselves about your nursery include:

• Does the check-in process show that you take security seriously?
• Is it too stringent? Too lax?
• What do visitors see when they look around the nursery? Ancient toys from 30 years ago? Exposed electrical outlets? Is it clean?
• Do the nursery workers demeanor, number, and ages instill confidence in a visiting parent?
• Do guests know how you’ll find them in case there’s a problem?
• Are you asking about allergies or other potential issues?
• Does it feel like there’s a good adult to child ratio?

Children’s Ministries

A strong children’s ministry is one of the largest gateways into your church, and that’s not empty hyperbole. Parents of small children are willing to overlook a myriad of issues if they feel like their children really connected with the kids’ ministry.

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself:

• Do the regularly attending kids seem excited to be there? How about the teacher?
• Is there a sense that the church takes children’s ministry seriously?
• Is there anything fun and unique that sets your children’s ministry apart from every other church in your city?
• Are the right people in this role?
• Will the kids go home with something to talk about?
• Do you have a plan to have to help parents reinforce your lesson?

You don’t need a huge budget to run an exemplary children’s ministry, There are all kinds of wonderful resources for free Sunday school lessons and opportunities to compare various curriculums. It can’t be stressed enough that the return on investment in children’s ministry is enormous.

High School

For smaller churches, this is one of those areas I’ve seen go dramatically wrong. If you don’t have a lot of teenagers in your church, don’t feel the need to force it. Smaller churches can feel like not having a youth group hurts them, but visiting teens can feel incredibly awkward in a group of four or five kids ranging from 12–18.

If you have a smaller church with only a few teens, consider how you can partner with the youth ministry of other churches, and how you can get teens more involved in services.

Capturing parents’ hearts

Don’t think about these questions as a simple church growth strategy. Thinking about how your ministries are perceived by others is an important step in creating ministries that are changing people’s lives.

Parents want their kids to be impacted by church ministry. Thinking through what they’re looking for is a powerful first step in creating a ministry that’s going to give children an important foundation to build their faith upon.

About Jayson Bradley

Jayson D. Bradley is a writer and pastor in Bellingham, WA. He’s a regular contributor to Relevant Magazine, and his blog JaysonDBradley.com has been voted one of the 25 Christian blogs you should be reading. He is also the content strategist for Gradlime: a content marketing agency content that equips faith-based organizations to reach more of the right people.