How to do an effective high
attendance day
Using High Attendance to
motivate your Sunday school
leaders and reach the lost
Why do a high attendance?
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It creates excitementBreaking barriers is
always exciting
It causes focus- If done
correctly it helps to
focus every class on
one purpose
It calls for planning- A
lack of planning plagues
too many Sunday
schools. Planning
together can be very
fruitful.
Why do a High Attendance?
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It connects the Sunday
school classes with
people
It culminates in reclaiming inactive
members and reaching
the lost
It can assist in updating
your Sunday school
ministry list
What are the negatives of doing a
high attendance day?
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If not done correctly it can
actually result in a lower
attendance.
If there is not proper
planning in the preschool
and children’s department
there can be over crowded
conditions which could be a
safety issue.
Without proper preparation
unmet goals can de-motivate
workers and church
members
What are the keys to a
successful H.A.D.?
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1. Planning through a leadership
team
2. Understanding how to set goals
properly
3. Communicating with the
Sunday school leaders and
members
4. Choosing the prime dates and
theme
5. Preparing for the Day itself
6. Careful follow up and
assimilation
Planning through a leadership
team
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Developing a leadership team made up
of staff ( if applicable) and Sunday
school leaders
Remember the law of influence when
doing a special planning
Get representatives from each division:
preschool-adults
Give at least 5 months to planning for
the H.A.D.
The leadership team
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Have team members assigned to
specific teams:
Prayer team, Communications team
(PR), Set up team ( for H.A.D.),
Outreach preparation team, Follow up
team, or others if you need them
Setting goals for a high
attendance day
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Remember this is a high attendance day so
you will be stretching your faith and your
vision
At four months away do a training on how to
set goals
During this training point out that setting
unreachable goals is not the purpose of the
day
Also teach your people that stretching
themselves is key to growth
Setting goals
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As part of the training set a date for all
classes to set their goals
Help each class include prospects as part of
the outreach effort as well as in-actives
Give them ideas on contacting those they
wish to be in attendance and plan either a
get together the night before the HAD or a
special Sunday breakfast, or special gift for
each on attending
Setting goals continued
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On the goal setting Sunday have each class
turn in a High Attendance Goal number
(provide a card for them)
Keep the number they turn in confidential. It
should run between 75-100% or more higher
that your current attendance
Remember: Do not use this number as your
final goal….because it is generally unreachable
Setting goals
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After you get the cumulative goal that the classes
have turned in, determine what would be a closer
goal that would still stretch you.
For example: If you generally run 65 in Sunday
school and the overall goal is 150, the possibility of
reaching 225% more than you are currently running
is going to be very difficult the first time around.
However, without each class shooting for a very high
goal, they might not increase any significantly.
Remember: half of the classes generally will not
reach their personal high attendance goal and half
will. But all the classes will reach more than usual.
Setting goals
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Average attendance: 65
Classes set a cumulative goal of 150 ( which
is not publicized)
Set a goal of 100 for your high attendance
goal that will be publicized. That is still a
jump of 55%!!!
Get a win under your belt and let people be
excited over breaking the new barrier
Remember before David killed Goliath he had
to kill a bear and a lion.
Communicating the Plan
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As part of your planning team have a PR team that
will get the information out in creative ways such as:
A skit in worship
A video done on having a High Attendance Day
Testimonies from the pulpit leading up to the H.A.D.
Either a 4 Sunday series of Sunday school lessons on
reaching people or a series of messages from the
pulpit or both
Communicating the plan
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Have a monthly Sunday school leadership
meeting leading up to the H.A.D.
Do a countdown calendar 5 months out, 4
months out, etc.
As part of the communication plan use:
You website, post cards, group and individual
emails, telephone calls by all classes to each
member and prospect the week before,
Setting the dates and theme
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The date you choose to set
the H.A.D. is very important.
See if you have any past
history on better days of
attendance
Do not set it on a Mother’s
Day, Father’s Day or
Memorial Day
Some better days to consider
are : The Fall time change
Sunday when everyone gets
an extra hour of sleep, the
Sunday before school
adjourns for the summer, or
the Sunday before or just
after school begins.
Dates and theme
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In choosing your theme
consider building it around a 46 week campaign or do 4-6
weeks of lessons or sermons
that lead up to the H.A.D.
The more focus you have from
the pastor, the Sunday school
literature, and the
communications tools the better
off you are
Never neglect to build in a
special prayer emphasis.
Regardless of how great our
communication tools are and
how well planned we make it,
without the anointing of God is
will be fruitless
Themes
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If you do not know how to develop a
theme or are not familiar with some
campaigns contact the Georgia Baptist
Convention Sunday school/ Open
groups department or Dr. Billy Britt at
bbritt@pgbconline.com
High Attendance Day
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This is GAME day, one of your biggest
opportunities of the year to break
through a barrier, enlarge your prospect
list, and love people
Remember: first impressions can be the
last impression
Be sure you have a check list
Check list for H.A.D.
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Are the facilities clean and
free of clutter?
Parking lot attendants
Welcome center
host/hostesses
Decorations based on the
theme
Additional workers in the
preschool and children’s
areas
If new rooms are to be
opened are they ready?
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Extra curriculum or lesson
handouts
Sunday school ministry
enrollment cards in each
room
Greeters for each adult room
and for each department
Food and beverages
available
Have the follow up team
make copies of all the guest
cards and plan to contact
them that afternoon
Follow up
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Follow up begins the minute they step upon
your campus- Good directions, assistance with
parking, finding the class room,
Get information on each person that comes.
Without registering your guests you have
wasted the day!!
Have each class prepared through the follow
up team to contact each person that attended
for the first time, or returned after a long time
of absence
Follow up
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The FIRST 48 is not only a Reality TV show it
is Reality Sunday school
Call everyone that attended, send them a
postcard, and plan to visit those that are true
prospects.
True prospects are people that are not
involved in another Sunday school class or
not actively involved in another church
Follow up
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Be sure to continue to do follow up until all
people who visited or returned that Sunday is
contacted
Keep good records and have a central person
or location to turn the follow up results
Update your mailing lists with current
information
Enroll new prospects as soon as possible in a
Sunday school class
Rejoice in the Lord!!