3 Ways to Use Grow Hubs in Family Ministry

Your big event is coming up, and you’re so ready. You’ve spent hours tweaking the schedule, designing and testing new games, and writing your lesson. And then you see a text message that replaces that feeling of preparedness with a sense of panic.

Hey, what time am I supposed to drop my kid off for that event?

• You sent the emails.
• You announced it in your weekly program.
• You printed RSVP cards and handed them out as families picked up their kids.
• You even held a parent meeting about your event (and it was pretty well attended!)

But somehow, it still feels impossible to communicate enough. Keeping everyone on the same page can feel a full-time job.

Ministry has a lot of moving parts. There’s so much to accomplish in a short amount of time each week. It doesn’t feel fair that you should also have to juggle text threads, Instagram DMs, and email chains just to keep families informed.

So what if there was a tool that served as a simple, ministry-focused platform to put all of your communication in one place? You could easily communicate with families and leaders, and everyone would know where to go when they feel out of the loop.

That’s why we made Grow Hubs! We wanted to create a simple, all-in-one communication tool to help your ministry!

Plus, getting started with Hubs is easy. Once you create your account, you can set up as many Hubs as you need! Maybe one for parents, one for volunteers, or a few hubs for parents and volunteers working with different age groups. Then, just customize each Hub with an image and invite your group members. That’s it! With your groups set up, you’re ready to start posting announcements, adding calendar events, and opening up communication.

So, what are some things you can use Grow Hubs for? Let’s look at four ways you can use Hubs:

1. ANNOUNCE EVENTS

First, let’s talk about announcements. This is probably the most important thing to parents and volunteers. Church bulletins, emails, and stage announcements have their place, but it’s way too easy for details to get lost. With Hubs, you can post an announcement once and notify everyone instantly.

• Hosting a fall retreat? Announce it in your Parent Hub with the date, time, location, forms, and a link to the packing list.
• Have an upcoming parent meeting? Add it to the calendar with the date, time, Zoom link (if virtual), and topics so parents know what to expect.
• Organizing a service project? Post details about the location, what to wear, supply donations needed, and how families can sign up to help.
• Preparing for VBS? Share teaching content, registration links, and the full schedule.

The shared calendar feature makes it easy for families to see all upcoming events at a glance, and you can even schedule reminders to go out automatically. No more scrambling the week of or waking up in the middle of the night wondering if you remembered to tell kids to pack flashlights for camp—everyone stays in the loop.

2. OPEN FLOW OF COMMUNICATION

Next, let’s look at how you communicate with the people in your ministry. You don’t need to send every message to everyone. When there are updates or announcements for a specific group of people, it can be stressful to create that group text or email thread. There’s nothing worse than forgetting to add someone to the thread, right?

Grow Hubs can help you keep all that contact information in one place so you can quickly send messages to the people who actually need to see it. So, rather than blasting a group text to your whole ministry about your 8th-grade graduation party, you could try setting up hubs for specific groups like…

• 5th Grade Parents
• Guy’s Small Group Leaders
• Parents with Vans (call it “Van-ily”)
• Student Leaders
• Worship Team

With Hubs, you can set up groups however you want, keeping communication targeted, relevant, and in front of the people who need to hear it. You can field questions about logistics, communicate last-minute changes quickly and easily, and make it easy for parents to talk to you without coordinating a dozen email threads and text chains. By creating spaces for specific groups, you cut down on noise and make sure the right people get the right information.

3. SCHEDULE VOLUNTEERS

And since no event happens without volunteers, here’s how Grow Hubs can keep you organized. It takes a lot of people to make your events happen. You might have drivers, snack providers, check-in teams, small group leaders, and set-up or clean-up teams. Hubs makes it easier for you to coordinate all of these teams for every event!

You can use Grow Hubs to post volunteer schedules right to the calendar, track RSVPs, and send reminders.

• Running a lock-in? Post shifts for overnight chaperones, game leaders, snack providers, and check-in staff.
• Coordinating a fundraiser dinner? Add slots for setup crew, greeters, servers, and a tear-down team.
• Planning a week-long Summer Camp? Create an event with slots for drivers, room leaders, and game coordinators.

As people RSVP, you’ll know exactly who’s covered and where the gaps are. It keeps everything clear and takes the pressure off you to chase down last-minute confirmations.

Communication in ministry is hard. You’re already carrying so much. But you don’t have to do it alone. Tools like Grow Hubs can take some of the stress off your shoulders. You’re doing incredible work, and sometimes all you need is the right tool to make that work a little easier and more accessible.

Never get that dreaded “What time is it?” text again. Try Grow Hubs today for free and see how much simpler communication can be.