If your church is like mine, the dog days of Summer can be the dog days of attendance too – especially for young families who use the Summer break to go on vacation.
5 Ways To Avoid Poor Attendance Blues
This is an aspect of ministry that I still struggle with. It almost always affects my mood when our kids church attendance is way down. But I’m learning some strategies to overcome this.
1. Give thanks to God for those who have come.
It’s a privilege to teach, even when the crowd size is down. So, I have been trying to thank God for those who do come, rather than being down about who is out of town.
2. Pray for those who are absent.
Missing church is a good reason to pray for families. Even if it’s just a vacation, the lack of spiritual food may affect their walk with Christ. But you should pray extra for those who are just getting extra sleep.
3. Remember that every child matters to God.
Even if there is only one child in your Sunday school class, your should teach with all your might. That one child matters greatly to God, so do your lesson and leave the results up to Him.
4. Take advantage of the smaller crowd to build relationships.
One positive side effect of low attendance is the chance to talk more with the children. So spend some time asking about their summer.
5. Keep working hard and trust God to bring in the numbers.
Low attendance always makes me want to work harder to get kids in the door. I think that is a good response, as long as I keep trusting God to determine the outcome. So, why not make some extra phone calls and home visits this week?
I hope this blog post has encouraged you. If so, then you can leave a comment below. I appreciate your prayers too. Thanks for reading.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m relatively new to being the Nursery Director so I’m usually putting out some kind of fire.
When our attendance is low I see it as an opportunity to get to know my volunteers better.
I am able to down shift and fine tune the nursery routine. I’m always looking for new ways to improve.
I accept it as a blessing from God to refocus on my purpose. I keep envisioning a rock in the middle of a rushing stream. It’s a place of rest where I can hold steady.
Sooner of later the Lord will move me further down the stream.
@Candes: Thanks for your thoughts. I like your point about building relationships with the volunteers too.
This was excellent. I needed this. Thank you.
Karen
We’ve been hit with a double whammy this summer. Just after VBS we went ahead and promoted our middle school children to a new ministry. I lost 10 kids to that when I only thought I would lose 3. THEN, the great “vacate” started. It has been greatly discouraging to me and I have lost some momentum. I am greatly aware that I must step things up a notch and not let things slide just b/c numbers are down, but to be honest, I am very tired. Your words were an encouragement to me. First of all, to know that someone else feels the “loss” of summer too, but to remember to be grateful for who is there and to pray for those who are not is a good reminder. We need to all pray for one another and encourage one another. Thanks for doing that!
THANKS! this is something that I am really struggling with right now. We have only about 15-20 kids so when some are out our nubmer is very low. Thanks for the reminder that God care about every child and to teach that child like you would if you had several. THANKS!!
This is certainly the case at our church. It’s amazing how suddenly the attendance drops! Surprisingly, it’s the younger kids that drops and the preteens who stay strong in their attendance. Either way, this is a great post — I think I’ll pass it out to our Team members as way of encouragement. Thanks!
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