the Monday Morning Debrief: Changing things up for Fathers

Let’s just be honest.  Fathers tend to get hosed on Father’s Day.  I know, I know, fathers are still appreciated as my Facebook feed will tell you.  But let’s be honest, it pales in comparison to other similar observances like Mother’s Day.

That is why I’m glad we changed things up a little bit at New Life this week.   We did 3 things different for Father’s Day church this week:

1. We were creative with a funny video and an honoring video as well.  We created our own funny video and it got great comments and a lot of fathers could identify with it.  But, we also showed a video honoring dads which was great and heartfelt.  Both kept the focus on dads.
2. During church instead of a sermon directed to fathers we pulled 4 fathers up and interviewed them in the context of the father of the Prodigal son to share 3 lessons about being a dad. It showed that there are fathers who are real, authentic and try their best to raise Children, rather than a pastor sharing 3 points that are taken for a sermon illustration catalogue.  Want to see what it was like?  Watch the video here.
3. The student ministry hosted our 3rd annual father’s day dodgeball right after church!  it was from 12:30 – 1:30 pm and consisted of us playing a variety of dodgeball games.  It was an awesome turnout and it was so cool seeing dads compete against their children, even the really young ones.  Then, to have moms cheer on the family from the sidelines was just so fun.  It was a great connect for our Youth Leaders as they connected with moms, dads and children.

Overall, the day was a hit for dads as we got countless positive comments from everyone! I’m glad we did all we did and am hopeful we can continue to do more things like this in future years.

What did you do to honor dads on Father’s Day?  How did it go?  What can you do differently next year so Father’s Day can feel honored and loved?