Exploring the Purpose of the "Event" as it Relates to a Growth Strategy

I recently re-read a post from Tony Morgan entitled "Why Events are Killing Your Church, and Some Signs That You Need to Stop" It's a good read.

He makes some great points, and I certainly understand where he's coming from. But it got me thinking about the growth strategy at the church where I served for many years. I would go so far as to say that this church had an "event-driven growth strategy."

What do I mean? I understand that Tony is saying that we might keep people from their family activities or what God called them to do otherwise by doing events. I get that. But when it comes to an Outreach Strategy, simply attempting to get people to attend church who wouldn't otherwise, there's nothing better than an event.

Doing events advertised and promoted heavily to the community is a "method" for giving people a reason (other than coming to church) to set foot on your property. Once they're there, you can connect with them and help them overcome any hesitation to come to one of your services.

The church I served did many outreach events each year, but the four main ones were Easter, Kids' Camp, Welcome Weekend, and Christmas Eve. While some events around these times are obviously not on Sunday, each event includes an invite to attend a Sunday morning service.

The "Easter Eggstravaganza," was an over-the-top event with bounce houses, a petting zoo, face painting, cotton candy, popcorn, and of course, a series of egg hunts running all morning. The event drew a few thousand from the community over a three or 4-hour period, many of whom didn't attend the church. They each registered and received an invite to Easter Sunday services the following weekend. Many came!

Kids' Camp was the 3rd week of July every year. In past years, more than 1,400 kids participated. They have a blast playing field games, making crafts, and learning about how Jesus loves them in 2 over the top stage productions in the church's main auditorium. The kid who brought the most friends each day won a prize, and all the kids were given a free "Kids' Camp T-Shirt" when they brought their parents to a special Kids' Camp church service the Sunday after camp. Consequently, Kids' Camp Sunday (4th Sunday in July) was one of the highest-attended Sundays of the year! Many who now call the church home came on Kids' Camp Sunday and continued coming after that.

So there you go. For this particular church, at least, events were key to growth!