Thoughts About Keeping Track of It All . . . Notice the Children Who Are There!

There are so many things to keep your attention and notice on a Sunday morning, yet one of the most important is being sure to take the time to notice people . . . notice the children who are there, notice children who are not there, notice visitors and notice your volunteers. Like I said, there are so many things to keep your attention and notice on a Sunday! Today I'll give you a few things to think about when it comes to noticing the children who are at your church on a Sunday morning. 

So . . . for the children who are there . . . it may seem like a "no-brainer", but be sure to keep good records so you know who is there! This can be as simple as having someone at each classroom door who checks each child in - I've often used teens for my classroom "greeters" as they are able to return to the youth ministry after they have greeted each child - typically 15 minutes after the start of each service. "Greeters" do the following -

• greet each child as they arrive; make sure we get and keep an accurate attendance which allows us to free up the teachers/shepherds from taking attendance so they are able to engage with the children immediately upon their arrival.
• when a child arrives, our "greeter" checks them in, gives them a name tag and sends them into their classroom
• if there is a visitor, the "greeter" is able to get all the information we need and then takes a moment to introduce the visitor to their teacher/shepherd
• before the "greeter" returns to their class, they check to see if any children who are there have a birthday in the coming week and if so, prepares a card for everyone in their class to sign for the birthday child! (during the week this card is mailed so each child receives a birthday card from their teacher/shepherd and classmates on their birthday)
• "greeters" also take care of our absent and visitor follow up - which I'll detail over the coming days.

What do you do to "notice" the children who are at your church on a Sunday morning?