Let’s be honest, we can all do a better job connecting with the families in our ministry. They’re a vital part of what we do, and we love being around their kids and students.
In your heart, you know families are worth investing in, but choosing the right date, format, and gathering your team is a challenge on its own. Then, you have to actually plan and host the event itself.
Thankfully, you don’t need to host a monthly event for your parents. And, really, we don’t think you should host monthly events. It might actually be a better idea to focus on doing fewer, more strategic events for parents.
We think there are four events you should throw on your calendar every year. At the right time, these events can have huge benefits for your ministry, your parents, and your team.
Ready to find out what they are? Take a look!
Open House
An Open House is one easiest ways to help families feel like they belong.
It’s a simple event gives parents a chance to:
- Meet you and your leaders
- See the space where their kids or students will be in
- Preview your ministry in real time
For many parents, handing off their kids or students can feel a little intimidating, especially if they’re moving up a grade level. But an Open House lowers that barrier and helps them get to know more about what it is that you do. Want to know how to run your own open house? Check out these articles for kids and youth ministry.
That’s why we recommend holding this event toward the beginning of your ministry year. Plus, you can pair it with our next event to really help families feel connected to your ministry!
Move-Up Day
Whether you’re leading kids, students, or both, you know moving into a new grade comes with a bunch of new emotions…and not just for kids.
That’s why Move-Up Day is a really important day to celebrate in your ministry. For many families, it’s a huge milestone for their kids (and themselves!) as they grow up and enter new ministries.
You can use a Move-Up Day event as a chance to…
- Celebrate your kids and students
- Introduce new leaders and spaces
- Cast a little bit of vision for your upcoming year
- Reassure and connect with parents
It’s one thing to give parents a preview of your ministry, but now they’re here for real. It’s your chance to take ownership and lead them into what’s next!
Parent & Small Group Leader Breakfast
It’ll take some time for your kids, leaders, and parents to get adjusted to your ministry. So, a few months after everyone settles in, we recommend hosting a Parent & Small Group Leader Breakfast.
This event brings together the two most influential voices in a kid or student’s life: their parents and their leaders. And when those two groups are aligned? Everyone wins.
Use this moment to…
- Introduce parents to their kid’s or student’s small group leader
- Create space for real conversations—not just passing hellos in the hallway
- Establish shared goals and build trust
- Remind both leaders and parents they’re not doing this alone
We love placing this event in October, once your groups have had time to build a bit of relational momentum. That way, the connections made here feel more personal, more real, and way more effective in the long run.
Want to know how it works? We’ve got a complete walk through for youth ministry and kids ministry.
Parent Workshop
Last but definitely not least…a Parent Workshop! This is one of the most practical, helpful things you can offer to families each year.
We know parents want to lead their kids spiritually, but they may not have the tools and resources to do it. So, once a year, you can gather parents from all your kids and student ministries and train them!
At this workshop, you’ll want to make sure you…
- Make space for parents to get to meet each other
- Offer practical information for helping kids and teenagers grow spiritually
- Create space for conversations in focused breakout groups
- Feed them!
We recommend hosting this in January, but, really, you can schedule it whenever you’d like. Be sure to offer two different break out times for parents who may have kids in multiple age groups. Want to know more? We walk you through how to host a Parent Workshop here!
And just like that, you’ve got four complete family events to anchor your ministry year. Each one is designed to help parents:
- Get to know your leaders
- Feel connected to your vision
- Grow in confidence as they lead their families
It might seem like a lot to do, but we’ve made it easy for you!
With Grow Curriculum, you can pick up complete, ready-to-use event guides for each of these right from the Grow Marketplace.
Each one comes with everything you need to run and promote the event—from planning timelines and training content to graphics and more! Then, you can spend more time doing what you love: leading your ministry and building real relationships.
In this post, here’s what we’ll cover: