Before you think I’m going to tell you that we should all stop and do something else, I believe holiday clubs are still an effective way to reach out to children and families, and here are some reasons why:
They’re fun
Sometimes I think we can underestimate this. Holiday clubs can create good memories of being in a Christian community, and if children have fun at your club, they’re likely to come back to other events and ministries that you run. And the key is in the name – holiday club – children are on holiday and fun is important!
They are a great way to welcome families
Pragmatically, a holiday club provides a cheap way for parents to occupy their children while they’re on a school holiday; this alone makes families more amenable to their local church. However, running family events alongside the club can be so meaningful – through these, you tell families how much you value and welcome them, as well as their children.
They can be a gateway to join your church community
Many families can walk past churches and not realise what happens inside. For churches in modern buildings, families might not even realise that a church meets there (people often thought the church I grew up in was a health centre). A holiday club can provide a welcoming open door to meeting with and belonging to your church community.
They can foster teamwork, develop volunteers and engage your church in children’s and family ministry
The benefits of a club don’t only extend to the children who come, and their families. People who are already part of your church community can reap huge rewards from taking part. Volunteers can be introduced to children’s work and be developed in their skills. People who may never have ministered together before will get the chance to work alongside each other and form new bonds. And the large team that a holiday club requires means that more and more members of the congregation can take an active part in the church’s mission.
However, all these benefits don’t mean that we shouldn’t view our clubs with a critical eye and see how we can make them more appropriate for the community in which we’re working. If we’ve been doing a holiday club in the same way for 30 years, then the chances are that the club may not be meeting the needs of our church and local community as effectively as it did when we started. So, in what areas can we develop holiday club ministry? Here are some people who are developing a new model of holiday ministry or adding other mission events to complement an existing holiday club.
Pop-up mission in Wales
One way to go beyond a holiday club is to take a step back. This might sound counter-intuitive, but that’s what Helen Franklin, a church and community worker with Scripture Union in Wales, has started to do. She and her team have developed the idea of ‘pop-up mission’ as a simple and effective way for churches to reach out to the local community on an ongoing basis.
‘Traditionally, the church has often seen “mission” as something that is planned long in advance, and may be thought of as noun rather than a verb,’ says Helen. ‘Where children are concerned, if mission is in the form of a holiday club, it can quickly become a fixed point on the calendar, with an expectation that it will run long-term.’
Being present in schools can build on relationships started in holiday clubs
By contrast, some churches in North- West Wales have started to use ‘pop-up mission’ at intervals throughout the year. ‘Often, churches are too small to be able to run and support a holiday club,’ Helen continues, ‘and sometimes that can seem like a disappointment. But we wanted to foster a “can-do” attitude to mission and put together something that it was possible for smaller churches to take on.’
Pop-up missions take the form of a long afternoon in a park or on a beach. A small team turn up with equipment for two or three activities – maybe a game and a simple craft activity. They invite those already there or living around the venue to join them and then work with anyone who turns up. According to Helen, some people come straight away, others wander over after an hour or so.
The informal nature of the afternoons means there is space for team members to get to know each other. Families are more than welcome and as children play, there are many opportunities for people to chat. Helen explains: ‘We need to see things like pop-up mission as ‘being missional’ rather than ‘doing mission’. I think there’s a huge need to change people’s attitude to mission, from it being about activities we run to friendships we build – because I think that’s so much more the way Jesus did it! Pop-up missions are about creating those possibilities by being out and about where people are, building good relationships, being open and inviting, and developing conversation as the Holy Spirit opens up the opportunity. It may be that there is little talk about Jesus, but us simply being there and offering the use of the team’s equipment can be a witness.’
Family ministry in North London
Ashley Nichols had been reflecting for a while about how holiday clubs serve the community (both the church community and wider community) before coming up with an idea that went beyond a traditional week-long holiday club. He wanted to provide opportunities for repeated, meaningful contact with parents and their children and to communicate to parents and children why the Christian faith is valuable and attractive.
Instead of restricting the club to one week in the summer, Ashley and his team opened up the church every Tuesday and Thursday during the holidays. ‘We decided to transform our church hall, which often remains empty during the summer holidays, into Ancient Egypt throughout all of August, so that families could visit and hear about the Christian faith through the story of Moses,’ explains Ashley. ‘We had craft, play equipment, table football and a bouncy castle and scheduled two activities each day, which we used to tell the story of Moses and talk about faith.’
The team were really encouraged by this experience. ‘Having it available throughout the summer holidays meant more families were able to attend, and we had repeated contact with new families. It gathered momentum as we progressed through August and the number of visitors were spread out, which allowed deeper relationships to be built, particularly as parents stayed with their children.’
Seasonal ministry in Canterbury
Running a holiday club is an ideal springboard for reaching out to your community throughout the year. Festivals and special days come around with pleasing regularity and they offer up ideal opportunities for inviting families to events and parties. This means that the point of contact with a church for a family needn’t just be once a year, but much more often than that.
Mim Taylor, a children’s worker in Canterbury, didn’t start with a holiday club, but with a light party. However, after starting a holiday club a couple of years later, she saw the potential of linking the two together.
‘We started doing light parties, mainly for church children to have somewhere to go. However, when we started doing holiday clubs at the end of the summer holidays it seemed like a great opportunity to invite non-church children to another event,’ says Mim. ‘All children get invites on the last day of holiday club, and are contacted beforehand with a reminder (we send out regular emails about events throughout the year to all holiday-club families). We do a Christmas Family Film afternoon (a film on big screen, free drinks, sweets and popcorn) at the start of December for the community, which lots of holiday club families come to. There they are invited to the carol services. We do a summer Family Fun Day which is also popular with the community.’
There’s a huge need to change people’s attitude to mission, from it being about with activities we run to friendships we build
Easter still remains an issue, as Mim explains: ‘I’m working on that at the moment as lots of our families go away and, as it moves around within the holiday every year, we haven’t quite worked out the best thing yet!’ However, the year-round events provide a time for regular contact with families. ‘I’m also fortunate,’ Mim continues, ‘that I am in our local primary school every week so children see me there and parents see me at school events. We have been building on these relationships within the community with an open-air service and community BBQ every summer, which regular families from the family events come along to. I hope there is a good mix of “just children” and family events through the year which are fixed annual events so families know they are happening.’
Midweek clubs in Romford
As Mim highlights, being present in schools can build on relationships started in holiday clubs, and vice versa. In Romford, youth and children’s minister Marcus Giddy and his church run midweek clubs alongside a holiday club. ‘The majority of the children that come to the holiday clubs come from the wider community, whether that be through our homework club, PowerSurge our primary school faith club or the schools work we engage with in the local area or through our other community groups,’ explains Marcus.
‘We utilise the opportunities that the holiday club affords us to promote and highlight the midweek clubs we run – giving out information sheets that allow parents and carers to access the clubs at a future date. Similarly we use the midweek clubs to highlight various activities we engage with as a church. Our heart throughout is to be as accessible as we can to our community and to demonstrate our real desire to draw alongside them, building relationships and trust in order that we can have honest conversations about how much God believes them to be precious.’
The homework club is aimed at children from years three to six and is an opportunity to allow children to have a safe space to do their homework with supervised access to the internet. ‘We provide space for them to burn off the excess energy that they have, so that they can focus on their homework!’ says Marcus. The children get some snacks and a drink before starting homework, which the team use as an opportunity to also share some faith stories, or even a Bible story. They then have about 40 minutes to do their homework. ‘At the end,’ adds Marcus, ‘there’s some time to play and then we get together in a big circle and finish in prayer – many of them growing in confidence to pray out!’
PowerSurge is a Christian midweek club aimed at years three to six. Like homework club, many of the same children attend from the wider community. After refreshments and games, the team share a Bible story or look at particular subjects with a Christian focus.
Do what’s best for your community
All of these models were devised in the context of a particular parish or area, so as you look to develop your holiday club, take into consideration what your community is like and what it needs the most. Would a Messy Church aimed at holiday-club families be appropriate? Maybe, like Marcus, you could run an after-school club in your church building. Can you capitalise on the festivals when people are more likely to come to church?
Whatever you choose, keep reviewing what you do to ensure that it is the most beneficial thing for your community and the best way to tell the families of your parish or area about Jesus. After all, that’s what we’re all about – helping children and families meet with Jesus and get to know him better.
