Ahh, November . . . The calm between the storms. Fall launch is over, school has started, and for the most part, families are back into their routines. It’s a few short weeks to take a deep breath before the craziness of the holiday season sets in. And while it’s important to take some time to enjoy your hard work and rest up for what’s coming, it’s also a good time to consider some practical ways you might re-vision parents on what partnership with the church means.

Utilize social media and print advertising.

Social media should be a continual part of your ministry strategy, but it is especially important as you’re working to re-establish vision and communicate with parents. Take time to sit down with your team and figure out exactly how you want to do this, so that your efforts are intentional and executed well. Use the resources Orange has provided to help you figure out exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it. You don’t necessarily need to reinvent the wheel, sometimes you just need to remind them of what they already know. Also consider doing some traditional print advertising — a well-designed flyer or mailer, or even a handout to send home with kids can be effective when used sparingly, especially before everyone gets inundated with holiday paraphernalia.

Create visual displays and reminders.

Think about the number of families that walk through your ministry areas each weekend. Now think about the way you are utilizing these spaces visually. Take some time to create visual representations of your ministry vision in these areas. Orange has several great resources that can help with this endeavor, specifically in the form of posters and graphics that can be printed and inexpensively hung throughout your various ministry areas. Whatever you do with this, make sure you are switching it up regularly. Displays that are left up too often begin to get tuned out after a while.

Provide service opportunities.

What better way to partner with parents and remind them of the vision of an Orange church than to encourage serving as a family? Make sure you are regularly providing strategic, clear opportunities for this to happen. Most parents will jump at the chance to give back to the community in service, but they often need help finding ways to do so. When you give them options and continually encourage this, you are helping them grow as a family and establishing serving together as an integral part of their faith.

Host a Family eXperience (FX).

Orange offers incredible materials to help your ministry have an incredible Family eXperience, which is a great chance to get parents into your ministry environments and help them see what’s happening and why. The great part about what’s provided to you is that it’s entirely customizable to how big or small you want to make this unique service. Don’t waste this opportunity to bring the family together and share vision and strategy with everyone in one place!

There’s always something to do in ministry. Always. And while it would be easy to just coast your way through this month, these downtimes are perfect for thinking about the core of your ministry and how to get it back in front of parents. Don’t waste any opportunity to communicate what is most important!