Fall is a great time to get a fresh start and begin new things in ministry. The school year brings a lot of new starts: new schools, new classroom teachers, new sports seasons—a new beginning! In a church with a school, I see families use this time of year as a sort of reset button to reengage in church activities as well.
With this in mind, fall is a great time for church leaders to plan events that help refocus families on what is important. Family events help strengthen relationships too, both within the nuclear family and between different families within your church.
Family events help invite the community onto your campus. A lot of family events have a focus on the event and less on “churchy things,” creating a more welcoming and understanding environment for unchurched families that may not otherwise walk into your church.
These events can also reinforce biblical teachings, encouraging and helping express a variety of teachings your church may already be focusing on, such as Advent, Lent, Easter, or the Baptism of our Lord. Utilizing a family event to help engrain these lessons into the hearts and minds of your families is a great opportunity.
Finally, family events can help build unity throughout the church. Churches are often made up of different groups of people—generations, gifts, passions, abilities, time commitments—and these one-off family events can bridge gaps, building connections among members who might not otherwise cross paths.
When planning fall family events, first ask yourself this question: “What’s my point?” Determine your goal—your why. Is this a fun event to help strengthen your families? An outreach event? A service event? As a rule of thumb, when I contemplate creating a new event I try to ask myself these questions:
After prayerful consideration and coordination with other leaders in your church to figure out your goals, the next step is determining what the event actually consists of. Here are a few of my favorite modes of fall family events.
One of my favorite fall events is a school kickoff event in which you bless the children as they enter the school year. At our backpack blessing, we encourage kids to bring their backpacks to church where we offer a short children’s message and prayer. Each child receives a backpack tag inscribed with a Bible verse. As the tags are applied to the backpacks, we give parents a special blessing. Following the service, we offer fellowship and fun, like snow cones, a bounce house, and other fun activities!
Another great option is a church picnic, which could either be catered or potluck-style. You can also implement other activities into the event for families to take part in before or after eating, like a service project (e.g., collecting things for a local nonprofit, packing blessing bags for individuals who are homeless, making cards for members who are elderly or homebound, or completing an outdoor church project), yard games, or a program (e.g., a children’s message, science experiment, or puppet show).
Seasonal events, like a fall festival or trunk or treat, are another great option to foster community. For our trunk or treat, we have all the trunks focus on a Gospel theme. This year, our theme will be “’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,” and every participating trunk will have a Bible passage on display. In addition to candy, all children will also receive a card that reminds them why they can trust in Jesus. We also take the opportunity to hand out information about our church and school at this event.
If you want to have some fun off site, consider a fall outing. This could be a trip to an apple orchard, a corn maze, or a pumpkin patch. This type of event is more focused on fellowship and relationship building among church members and families. When we go on a church outing like this, I like to add a fall-themed devotional at the beginning of the event, a prayer at the end, and share take-home sheets to help conversations continue at home.
Something that is important when planning any event, but especially ones in such a season or transition and new beginnings, is timing. Evaluate your congregation and your target audience. Look at different community events that are in the area. Will your event be competing against other very big events, like sports games? Is there a day or time that most families will be free or will be able to make the event? In our area, we have chosen to run our trunk or treat on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon because those have proven to be the best times to get people to volunteer for the event and also get the most families who are free to attend the event. Another important thing is take notes after the event to remember what went well and what can be changed for next time.
In closing, the biggest things in planning fall family events are focusing on what your goal is, how you can add in the Gospel, and how this will help families, empower them, or help them with their own family discipleship.