4 Ways to Reengage Families After Summer

Summer time can bring different rhythms for everyone, including churches. With vacations, sports schedules, and overnight camps, churches might experience a “summer slump” in attendance. As things pick back up in the fall, here are four suggestions for reengaging families in your church.

1. Start a new preaching series. As you look at your preaching calendar, why not kick off the fall by walking through a new book of the Bible together? Some pastors choose to alternate between Old and New Testament for their spring and fall series to give the congregation a sense of the whole canon of Scripture each year. Starting a new preaching series can create a sense of excitement and anticipation as families come back from summer travel and get plugged back in.
2. Have events for families to attend together. Especially in Next Gen ministry, it can be helpful to have events for parents to attend alongside their children. Doing so enforces the partnership between church and home rather than seeing discipleship solely as the church’s responsibility. Having a game night for families to play together, a potluck dinner where new recipes are made, or a teaching time with an opportunity for questions and answers are examples of ways that churches can engage the whole family together. Instead of having events that only target certain portions of your congregation, be intentional to plan events that encourage the family to come together.
3. Promote new serving opportunities. Depending on the church, fall is the start of a new ministry year or at least bringing back regular meetings after a summer break. Restarting different ministries allows for pastors to exhort members to serve in various capacities. Perhaps more volunteers are needed in the nursery on Sunday mornings or serving with the worship or production teams. For churches in a college or seminary town, a new batch of students may also be visiting church and eager to serve in these different areas. As families figure out their new rhythms in a new season, you can encourage them to serve together and address needs in the church.
4. Renew a vision for the mission. With the start of a new season, pastors can take advantage of the change of pace to remind the church about the importance of the task at hand. While events like camp or VBS may occur over the summer, the start of fall can provide the spark to get families rethinking about the urgency of the gospel. As they begin to interact with new classmates, sports teams, and neighbors, use this time to exhort your people to live missionally where they work, play, and live. Invite them to pray for the lost in their lives and commit to finishing the year strong with their Bible reading plan. Be clear about the focus of the church and her mission and model missional living in your own life as well.

For churches, the fall season is more than college football and corn mazes. It is a time to reengage the families in every area of the church. Having event and serving opportunities to target the whole family can be helpful in reengaging them after summer travel. Starting a new preaching series can build excitement. But most importantly, your church needs to be reminded about the urgency of the task at hand. While the Lord tarries, His final marching orders to the church still need to be obeyed, starting this fall among your families.