Today, I’m going to talk to you about parent communication in your family ministry.

So many of you tell me that parents don’t read what you send out, and they aren’t interested in what you have to say.

I might surprise you with my response, but I DON’T BLAME THEM!

Now, before you get too upset with me…. think of this.

Every day, the average adult is presented with 5,000 media/ad exposures.

That’s a lot of information for parents to process. On top of that they have to read emails and notes from the school, extra curricular activities, and read their own emails and texts.

I’m sorry, but your nicely worded and informative email is going to easily get lost in that shuffle.

So what do you do?

I believe that in order for a parent to hear us once, we’ll need to say it seven times.

I know that’s discouraging, but the good news is that we have lots of formats to communicate the same message in multiple ways.

• Announcements from the stage
• Newsletter or bulletin
• Email
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Text Messaging

Today I’m going to give you one of my favorite ways to communicate with parents!

The one minute video is a great way to tackle this task.

Everyone loves to get a glimpse of how there loved one is doing when they’re away.

It’s why teachers send pics and videos of kids in class, so parents can feel great about how their kid is experiencing school.

It’s why dog kennels have live camera feeds on the internet for you to watch your dog having fun.

Parents will enjoy a peak at what’s going on when they’re not there.

The one minute video is a way to offer parents a glimpse of what’s happening in your weekly ministry event. When parents see their kid having a blast and learning great truths, they will be very interested in what’s going on in your ministry.

So how do you pull this off?

Because of phones, apps, and technology this is easier than ever.

Every week have a volunteer use a simple app on their phone to make a 1 minute highlight video. Here are some good options:

• InShot
• Imovie
• Videoshop
• Splice
• Magisto
• Quik

Make sure it’s only a minute. Resist the temptation to make it much longer, so that parents will actually watch it.

Include these 2 things in the one minute video, and they will be glued to the screen:

1. The face of their kid. (Get a swooping shot of the whole crowd to get everyone’s face or film them walking in the door in time lapse mode)

2. A glimpse of what they’re learning. Parents do care what you’re teaching their kid, but they just don’t want to sit through your sermon. Give them the very fast highlights, and they’ll be all in.

If you do those two things in about :30, you’ll earn the right to share :30 of the info that you need them to know.

Keep it short, and make it fun! If you consistently send these videos out to parents, they will come to expect communication that they enjoy.