How to attract young families to come to shul

meesi

Thu, May 19 2005, 9:23 pm

Hi everyone,

I have been asked to sit on the Board of Directors of our shul in the area of Family Education. This means that I will be working on projects targeting children, youth, and young families. Although ours is an Orthodox shul, most of our families are secular Jews (most don't keep kosher, are not Shomer Shabbos, etc.- and those who are, we are not worried about, right? Wink

) Do any of you have any suggestions/ides for me about activities that could attract more young families to come to shul? We already did a Young Families Oneg Shabbat and it was awesome! I would love to hear of any activities that you have enjoyed at your shul and that would appeal to this group.

Thank you!!!

Chana

gryp

Thu, May 19 2005, 9:59 pm

how about a Shabbat party every Shabbat whenever you think is the best time to have it in shul... (I would say Mincha, but I dont know if you have a minyan then)
or a Junior Minyan with a Shabbat Party right after?

meesi

Thu, May 19 2005, 11:16 pm

Thank you for your replies. Please forgive my ignorance, but could you please give me a few more details of what this party should be like? Are there any special traditions for it? Or is it just like a kiddush?

Thank you!

Chana

gryp

Fri, May 20 2005, 9:25 am

hi CanadianChana,
I did Junior Minyan for a year in a Chabad House that was trying to build up their minyan and since the kids had so much fun, they all brought their friends with the next time and eventually the parents too.
we davened, had storytime, and a treat afterwards.
I think what kept the kids coming back each time really was because I chose a story that was really long and each Shabbos I would tell them a new part of the story. they were really excited to hear what was going to happen next.
and somehow they loved even the davening that they didnt know and was hard for them to follow. whatever new parts of davening they learned with me on Shabbos, they begged their teacher to sing with them also in school during the week.
I loved doing it and they were wonderful kids, ages 3-7, boys and girls, on all different levels.

about a Shabbat party, usually you sing a few shabbos songs, tell a shabbos story, and have a special treat. people do it on fridays, shabbos afternoon, but I can also see it being done shabbos morning and perhaps adding "kiddush" into it.

meesi

Fri, May 20 2005, 9:31 am

Thank you! I am preparing a detailed list of proposed projects to present to the Rabbi and the Board. I am sure that they will approve this one!

Good Shabbos, if I don't "speak" to you later!

Chana

Rochel Leah

Fri, May 20 2005, 9:54 am

Rg gave you great ideas, I also did shabbos group when I worked fro a chabad house too. this was our schedule.

the kids would come and we would play a game while waiting for a sizeable amount of kids to come. we would play word games or circle games. once we had enough kids we would daven ( each week a different child was chosen to be the chazan or chazanit)and then we would talk about the parshah. the kids loved hearing the parshah as some of them had learnt it at school so mostly everyone was able to share, we would once in a while prepare a jeaprody game, with questions on the parshah. we then played a game and then gave out snack while they heard a story.

We also had a prize system where they got points for different things like coming each week, behaving well, etc.. after a certain amount of points they got to choose a prize from the "treasure chest" but they could only take it home after shabbos. ( there was no eiruv)

Motek

Sun, Jun 05 2005, 8:38 am

having a "Carlebach Shabbos" can be a great way to attract people

someone like singer Yisroel Williger - who is invited by a community to be the chazan in shul and to lead the Shabbos Zemiros at a communal meal (or meals), is a tremendous draw

http://www.shopou.org/customer.....age=9

also, any great speaker who you can invite for the weekend, and have a theme for the Shabbos with a lineup of great topics

if you want to attract young families, then provocative topics related to Parenting and Shalom Bayis will get the people out!

carrot

Sun, Jun 05 2005, 2:29 pm

some ideas: purim carnival, shvuos ice cream party, lag b'omer picnic/barbeque...

also sometimes the moms like challa classes, for shvuos blintzmaking, etc.

and in general if when there are functions for adults there are simultaneous activities for kids.

chavamom

Sun, Jun 05 2005, 5:26 pm

We used to do a 'theme dinner' for singles on Fri. night once a month in the summer and it was a big hit. One month we did Mexican (with Coronas), the next month Chinese food - you get the picture.