How Do You Share Ministry Resources With Families?

We do a variety of things. We have a private Facebook group for parents and grandparents who bring kids to our church, and we share things of interest there: articles, book reviews, links to flyers. We use the bulletin for similar announcements. I (the director of children's ministries) will sometimes type up something I think is really cool and simple that they can do with their kids and distribute it in everyone's mailboxes. Or I'll review a book, include a few tips, and offer to buy the book for everyone who wants it, and distribute the review to everyone's mailboxes. We had several copies of a communion picture book several years ago that we borrowed around, and I had the best response when I made an announcement holding the book and said, "Come up and see me after church to borrow this!" A story box sounds like a great fun idea--the best thing you can do is provide the opportunity for families to take advantage of it. It's up to them to grab the opportunity.

Hi, Melissa! We recently posted about some creative ways to share Everyday Family Faith that you could apply to other books and items. We're excited that you're finding resources from Faith Alive and Faith Formation Ministries hepful for families in your church!

I used to do a book or resource of the month that was highlighted in a variety of ways (newsletters, bulletins, out on the information book, etc.).  You can also highlight it on a parent's Facebook page or create a resource list that you keep on the church website that people can access anytime.    

Hi Melissa, 

I love your idea of story kits! And I love reading the comments with other ideas too. Thank you for asking such a great question.

One of our fabulous friends in ministry is John Roberto. His research indicates the importance of using a variety of strategies to connect with parents--print, web based, in person, etc---because each parent/family with kids has their own way of learning and engaging with resources. In addition to the ideas people are sharing in the comments you might be inspired by the brief chapter of the book Families at the Center of Faith Formation which John graciously allowed us to include in our Family Faith Formation toolkit.  It's one of my favorite chapters (in a book I turn to frequently!). Here's the link: Chapter 6: Developing the Family-at-the-Center Approach to Faith Formation.