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A new-to-the-area family decides to try out your church on Sunday. They are loaded up in the minivan, bellies full of Sunday morning doughnuts, excited to find a new church home. As they pull into the parking lot, the clock starts ticking. From the moment their vehicle enters the church property, you have about 10 minutes to make a good impression. What they notice and experience in those first 10 minutes can determine whether they return.
Start with the Parking Lot
Before the children get to experience your deep, Bible-centered lesson or be loved on by your team of amazing volunteers, Dad and Mom must make it into the building and find their way to the kids’ area. How smooth was that process for parents? Was it clear where they were supposed to go?
Think about:
- Is there a special parking area for visitors?
- Are parking attendants greeting visitors in the parking lot and showing them where to go?
- Are doors clearly labeled?
No family wants to wander around confused about how to get to their destination. Depending on the size of your church, visitors might even be unsure which building is the correct one. Alleviate anxiety from the moment cars turn into the parking lot with clear directions and signs.
How Do Parents Find the Children’s Area?
Imagine visiting a church with your children, only to have no clue where the children’s programming takes place or how to get there. You look around for signs showing you where to go, but there are none. No greeters acknowledge that you, a visitor with children, might not know where to go. The bulletin contains no information about the kids, nor were you given a welcome packet. In this scenario, parents have no clue what is available for their children. It also leaves them with the impression that the church isn’t warm and welcoming.
Sadly, I’ve encountered such a scenario. As visitors at a church, my husband and I had no clue where, when or how our daughter could go to children’s church. It even took us a bit to find a church member who knew the answer. As you can imagine, this was not a church we went back to.
If you want families to feel warmly welcomed, think about:
- What kind of signage is there?
- Is the way to the children’s area clearly marked?
- Are greeters and ushers trained to spot visiting families and give them information and directions?
- How friendly are the greeters?
- Are you giving welcome packets to new families at the door?
Preemptively alleviate questions and anxiety by making sure families know what is available for children and where. (Having all of this information on your website is a great first step.) Train your greeters to spot visiting families and not just inform them of kids’ programming, but also walk them to the area. If you want visitors to bring their children to kids’ programming, they need to know what it looks like and where it is located.
What Do Parents Experience upon Entering the Children’s Area?
Now that your visiting family has made it through the parking lot and found their way to the children’s area, what are parents experiencing? They are getting ready to leave what is most precious to them in your care. It’s up to you to ensure that parents feel safe and comfortable leaving their child with you.
If you want parents to feel safe leaving their children with you, think about:
- What safety and security measures are put in place?
- How are safety and security measures communicated?
- Is check-in easy to understand?
- How long is the check-in line?
- Does the room look clean and tidy?
- Are there enough volunteers?
- Do the volunteers seem attentive and excited that children are there?
- Is there some control over the children, or is it chaos?
Before leaving them in your care, parents need to know that their child will be both safe and welcomed. Could you imagine leaving your child in a musty-smelling room full of broken furniture with adults who never ask your child’s name? No way! Safety and security should be so high a priority that parents can see that at first glance.
The First 10 Minutes Can Make an Eternal Difference
Making a good impression so that a visiting family attends again is great. No ministry leader thinks gaining new families is a bad thing. But it’s not the main thing.
Discipleship is.
If we want to help boys and girls become rooted and established in Christ (Colossians 2:6-7), we have to make a good first impression. If visiting families don’t return, you can’t continue to disciple in the classroom.
John 17:17 tells us, Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. We, as ministry leaders, cannot equip the saints (Ephesians 4:12) and ground boys and girls in the truth of God’s Word if they aren’t at church.
Imagine another not-so-great scenario with me: There’s a family visiting your church for the first time. But this isn’t just their first time at your church; it’s their first time at any church. Unfortunately, they were not met with friendly, smiling faces. No one invited their children to children’s church, and when their young children made noise in service, as kids do, congregation members sneered at them. This family slipped out quietly after service, discouraged and disappointed that they didn’t meet this supposed loving Savior they had heard about.
A bad first impression could result in more than the loss of a potential new family. It could have eternal consequences.
Here are four steps you can take to improve your first impression:
- Pick a Sunday morning and pretend you’re a visitor at your own church. How easy was it to figure out where to go?
- Evaluate safety and check-in. Do you have a safety policy? Is it being followed? Is check-in secure and enforced? It needs to be.
- Look over your space and evaluate the cleanliness and tidiness. Would you, as a visitor, want to leave your child in that space?
- Train your team to be welcoming. A warm, friendly face can make all the difference when it comes to a child or parent feeling welcomed. Train your team on how to greet and engage with visitors and regular attenders alike.
Remember …
Our only goal isn’t just trying to gain new families. The most important goal is to teach children about the Way, the Truth, and the Life so that they will follow Christ as lifelong disciples. First impressions, quite frankly, can determine our success at doing so.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Amber Pike serves as the Church and Family Ministry Coordinator at RenewaNation and managing editor of The RenewaNation Review. Amber is the author of Exploring the Bible Through History, The Family Cookbook Devotional, The Top 50 Bible Lessons About Ordinary People in God’s Extraordinary Plan, Intentional Children’s Ministry, and Praise Him: A 30 Day Family Devotional. She is a wife, homeschooling mom, speaker, content creator, curriculum writer and the host of The Kidmin Huddle podcast. You can learn more about her ministry at amberpike.org.
