It's easy to look at Father's Day as just another holiday to do up a special bulletin and social media for and to say a few nice things about Dads during the church service. But did you know you can do so much more as communicators for Jesus?
We need to constantly remind ourselves in the crush of trivia and distraction that our job is not to be a holy version of Hallmark where our goal is to have the most appealing Father's Day social media and PowerPoint ever, but that our primary job in communications, as in all of life if we are followers of Jesus, is to grow as his disciples and to share his message of salvation—in other words, to fully fulfill the Great Commission. Below is our podcast where we explain how Father's Day can be used to grow men in their faith and following the podcast are notes from it and links to the resources mentioned in it.
You might wonder why a church communication article starts out by reminding you of the importance of discipleship, but as followers of Jesus that is the most important aspect of our lives and our work as church communicators is simply the arena in which we carry it out.
Ephesians 5:16-17 reminds us of this and challenges us in this way:
So be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don’t be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to.
At Effective Church Communications, my goal is to remind you to "make the most of every opportunity for doing good" and to give you practical opportunities to do that.
Holidays and seasonal events give us a great opportunity to do this
In the beginning, God set aside a special time to focus on him and to rest and celebrate him when he gave humanity the Sabbath. As he revealed himself and his ways more fully when he gave the children of Israel the law after they left Egypt, part of that law was a series of celebrations where they were to set aside work and rejoice in what God had done for them.
We may not practice the Jewish festivals today, but the underlying idea is still valid—that we can use our times of celebration to focus on our walk with God and to grow as His disciples.
Doing this in some holidays such as Christmas and Easter is more obvious than Father's Day, but we have great opportunities on Father's Day to encourage and challenge the men in our churches. Following are some of them along with links to specific resources that will help you do each suggested action.
An important note in all of this is a reminder that a man does not need to be a biological father to place a vitally important role as a father in the lives of children who may have lost their biological father or for whom perhaps their biological father is not able to be all that is needed. Perhaps the father is deployed, disabled, or absent. The reasons aren't important, but the children who don't have a father are. For these children, this is where the church, the Body of Christ can step in.
When my husband was a Single Adult Pastor, one of the best things about our group is that we welcomed children to all our events. We had more men than women in our group and because of that, the many children of the single moms in our group had lots of male Christian interaction for their kids. It was an example of the Body of Christ functioning at it's best.
Keep this in mind as you plan your Father's Day Communications so that the men who are not biological fathers will be encouraged to be spiritual fathers to the many children who need them in our churches and communities.
Now for the practical things you can do for Fathers Day along with links to free templates and resources:
Celebrate Fatherhood
Father's Day PowerPoint Slides and Videos of inspiring quotes and verses: https://wp.me/pDky9-7ly
Bulletin inserts or social media content for Father's Day; poetry, challenges, encouragements: https://wp.me/pDky9-7gG
Welcome slides for Father's Day: https://wp.me/pDky9-7mc
Challenge Fathers
Beyond Celebration, part of being a Father who models our heavenly Father means challenging fathers to grow in their faith and goodness and here are some resources that can help you do that:
Be a better man – a Father's Day Challenge, FREE for all: https://wp.me/pDky9-7hk
Make STRATEGIC use of Father's Day to grow your church--by targeting YOUNGER Dads: https://wp.me/pDky9-6ec
For all the Templates related to Father's Day including all the items above, plus postcards, invitations, connection cards go to: https://wp.me/PDky9-7i7
Please share your thoughts, comments, questions!