So, growing up, I remember attending church on Mother’s Day year after year (it falls on Sunday, so this isn’t a hard memory to come by) and I remember the carnation that went to all the moms. All I can say is, I’m glad something was being done, but churches have the opportunity to do something so much better than that.
One thing we have often said at everything.church is that meeting the human need will grow your church more than any other avenue EVERY SINGLE TIME. Churches are made up of humans desperate for love, community, grace, and acceptance. They are also made up of women. In fact a lot of women, 61% compared to 39% are the numbers that represent most churches in America.
Moms and women are typically the party throwers. I don’t want to generalize, but I have been a part of some really awesome events at churches and even if there were some great male staff at the original planning meeting, there were typically about four women there after midnight on the eve of the event putting together all the finishing touches. I don’t want this to be one sided, I know there are so many audio and lighting guys that get absolutely no glory at churches, who are there alone for hours on end, and I know that Lead and Senior Pastors are slaving away when no-one is watching too. But the point remains, women are often throwing the parties and it’s kind of awkward to throw a party for yourself.
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The women, female staff and moms in your church may not feel super empowered to throw themselves a fantastical party for Mother’s Day, unless your church culture says,
“let’s honor the mamas.”
Let’s be REALLY honest right now. Can you do that with me?
Unless you’re at a Methodist, Episcopal Church, or certain Presbyterian churches the chance that your Lead Pastor is a woman is very small. If you consider yourself to be a “modern, semi-progressive, evangelical church” there’s a chance that your Pastor’s wife MIGHT have the title of Co-Pastor, but even with that being true, she probably does not preach on a regular basis. Announcements, Offering, Prayer Requests and Praise Reports don’t count.
Hopefully this isn’t too honest 😉
So, having said all that, there can often be a feeling at churches that if our Pastor’s wife got to preach on Mother’s Day, then we honored moms and women.
Box Checked.
But there’s the potential for so much more. You might say it’s not the church’s responsibility, and maybe it’s not, but women make up 61% of our churches and here’s a great opportunity to honor a huge portion of them. Making them feel known, loved, and appreciated is what community is all about. Anyone can get their worship on at home, but people come to church for relationships.
You still have two weeks to plan something awesome, at the very least to do something different than you normally do.
Some churches are blessed to have thriving women’s ministries, I know my home church, started a ministry called Girlfriends that’s had a huge impact on south Dallas, but if there’s not an empowered team of ladies loving on women, then no one is creating with them in mind.
- So, designate some point people right away.
- Set them up for success by giving them a budget and permission to blow people away.
- Use socials, it’s a little late to advertise, but social media is a powerful last minute tool when used efficiently. And conveniently just like church, more women are on it than men, coming in at 72%.
- Let the moms know that you are crafting something with them in mind, and ask all the moms in your congregation to to share on social too.
We are going to be sharing some specific ways this week that churches and kid’s ministries can love on mom’s for Mother’s Day, but today, make sure you have a team of people coming up with some ways to honor the moms in your own church this Mother’s Day. Do you have some fun ideas you’ve done in the past, share them below.
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