Stolen Idea Works Like A Charm ... Thanks Josh Griffin!

A few weeks ago on the PDYM podcast Josh mentioned that he was going to try a guided parent tour of the youth ministry at Saddleback as a fresh way to try to reach out to and connect with parents. Motivated, I instantly jumped on the idea and ran with it. Within a couple of days postcards were mailed out to parents inviting them to attend. We told them to bring the postcard with them to the event. During the next two weeks students came to my office and prepared displays for various aspects of our ministry - small groups, mid-week, missions trips, leadership, retreats, etc. On the night of the event I shared a few things with the group of parents and then we had different leaders serving as tour guides take small groups of parents around to the stations. At the stations the parents were able to interact with adult leaders and student leaders who answered questions and shared about their particular area - how it serves our purposes and how their lives have been impacted. The parents then had their postcards stamped verifying that they had visited the station. We told them that if their students brought the fully-stamped postcard to our kickoff service the following week they would get $10 off of their winter retreat registration. We also had deserts and coffee available. My favorite thing was how the parents lingered and mingled with my volunteers and student leaders, as well as with each other. Nobody seemed to be in a hurry to get their cards stamped and hit the road. Oh yeah, and the $10 thing ... worked like a charm! We had by far the best turn out of parents to anything I have ever tried! Thanks Josh! lol