1. Angela McCann
   Member

   It is our vision to have the same teachers in each of our preschool classes from week to week during the school year (with breaks and holidays of course). We really believe this will positively impact the experience for the preschoolers. This is not a problem in our elementary area but for some reason we just can't seem to push through in prek. When I became director 2 years ago we had this crazy schedule with people serving once/month or twice a month on the 2nd and 3rd sunday at the first service only - I get a headache just thinking about that schedule. We now have 3 teams of 2 that do serve consistently each week but need 3 more teams.

   I've just recently begun tracking attendance and discovered to my total surprise that 2/3 of our families attend just one or two times a month. How can I get consistent volunteers when we don't have consistent attenders? Any ideas out there?

   ~Angela McCann

   Posted 1 year ago #

2. NickBlevins
   Member

   Hey Angela,

   Families attending irregularly like that is very common if you're consistently reaching unchurched families. It would be great to survey all the families (maybe the whole church) to find out their background (church/unchurched) and then cross that with their attendance. 60% sounds like a lot though. We have a survey we did last year that was incredibly helpful that I could send to you if you would like. That issue alone would be interesting to explore. I would probably start by figuring out what other healthy, growing churches similar to yours experience with that. I'll see if I can figure out our attendance patterns and let you know.

   About preschool....if I'm understanding you correctly, all of your volunteers serve each week now, but you need more volunteers? There's probably other information that would help me brainstorm ideas:

   How many services do you have, and are they identical?
   Is the normal pattern to serve during 1 service and attend another?
   Do teenagers serve?
   What percentage of adults/students serve somewhere in the church? (as % of average worship attendance)

   Summer is coming up and creating a "summer team" each year has been a huge way to get new volunteers into the fold. Some serve only during the summer, but many stay on board after that.

   Posted 1 year ago #

3. NickBlevins
   Member

   Hey Angela,

   I just checked that survey I mentioned and apparently it indicated that in general, 61% of our church's attenders attend weekly, 25% attend 3x/month, and the rest attend 1-2 times/month. That was a survey of the whole church though, and not specific to families with children.

   Interestingly enough, only 34% of those "weekly attenders" indicated they serve on a ministry team at our church. And, there was a strong relationship between attendance and serving, meaning the more they attend the more they serve.

   Maybe the attendance issue is the place to start?

   I hope that helps!

   Posted 1 year ago #

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