Assemble Together

My goal is that the kids in my class attend church on a weekly basis. The reason I say weekly is because discipleship is most effective with a weekly commitment. I understand that the tendency today is for families to attend church every other week, but the bottom line is that the kids that attend church on a weekly basis are stronger Christians.

I know that you cannot control how often a parent decides to come to church, but there are things that you can do to be proactive in this area.

1. Make it a stated goal.

You are not trying to guilt parents to come to church. You are simply stating an observation that kids that attend church weekly are stronger Christians.

I’ve heard people say something like this: “Don’t make a big deal about weekly attendance because you will frustrate the kids who can’t attend weekly.”

While I understand what they are saying, I don’t agree. If weekly attendance is one of your goals, then you need to communicate it with parents, or it will not happen.

2. Teach the kids in your class about the importance of attending church on a weekly basis.

3.Make kids’ church really fun. Work hard to make learning the Word of God fun and exciting. One of your goals should be to get the kids to want to come back next week. If kids are bugging their parents to go to church, it’s hard for the parents to say no.

4.Create opportunities for kids to make friends at church. I do this through small groups and special activities. Kids will want to go to church to connect with their friends. Have an ice-cream social (i.e., get-acquainted meeting) for parents of first graders to help their child transition into kids’ church. At this meeting, share with parents your vision and goals for every child that graduates to youth ministry. Talk about how important weekly attendance is. You may not reach everyone, but this strategy is more effective than whining about how uncommitted the parents are.