Everyone knows the three elements that make real estate valuable: Location. Location. Location. As you think about making the Mother’s Day and Father’s Day celebrations in your church or school meaningful, consider these three elements: Presentation. Presentation. Presentation.
Presentation—Who?
The “who” of presentation includes both your honorees and the people who distribute the gifts you will give.
Whom will you honor?
- Why, mothers and fathers on their respective days, of course!
- But what about the “grands”—the grandmothers and grandfathers who make such a grand difference in the lives of so many?!
- And what about the surrogate grandmas and grandpas who fill a unique niche in the lives of children whose grandparents live halfway across the country?
- Oh, yes, and also the adults who direct the midweek Bible club, the Cub Scout troop leaders, the soccer coaches, and the volunteers who staff your other children’s ministries . . . what about them?
- And how about the Sunday school leaders and VBS helpers whose selfless sharing of time and energy helps kids and their families grow up in the faith?
When you stop to think, it’s hard to know where to draw the line! “Mothering” and “fathering” in the faith happens day in and day out, year in and year out, in the family of believers. And we want to encourage even more of it! Recognizing everyone not only avoids the hurt feelings and bitterness than can result when someone feels left out, but it also reminds everyone that we walk by faith—together!
That’s why, for many years now, CTA has recognized the need to show appreciation for all women on Mother’s Day and all men on Father’s Day. We encourage you to consider these gifts for women and men as you shop for your church’s Mother’s Day and Father’s Day observances. Value-priced, these gifts are deliberately designed to fit neatly into your budget.
Who should present the gifts?
That depends upon the message you want to communicate:
- Want to emphasize the importance of the people you’re honoring? Have the senior pastor present the gifts and highlight the significant impact honorees make in your church.
- Want to emphasize the thanks of the entire congregation? Have the person in charge of men’s ministries present gifts on Mother’s Day and the person who heads up women’s ministries present gifts on Father’s Day. Each presenter should deliver a brief (!) statement of thanks.
- Want to highlight your church’s ministry with and for children and youth? Have the person in charge of these ministries recruit young people to distribute the gifts. Identify an articulate young person or two to express the thankfulness of their peers. (You might have all the young people write out several endings to this sentence and then choose from among them the ones to read aloud as you present the gifts: I thank God for my mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/aunt/uncle/teacher/coach because . . .).
Presentation—Where?
Some congregations distribute gifts for Mother’s and Father’s Day right in the service itself. This assures everyone in attendance that day receives a memento. CTA’s Ministry Messages, keyed to specific product lines, make this an easy option. When the Ministry Message is used together with other free resources, the whole service becomes a coordinated “thank you” to the women/men in attendance.
Other congregations prefer to use a less formal setting. They sponsor a coffee and doughnut hour before or after services. This makes it possible for people to socialize, share joys, and communicate prayer needs. If you have more than one time of worship and your services occur back to back, you may want to use this option.
Presentation—Why?
It’s possible simply to announce something like, “Ladies, be sure to pick up your gift from the table in the fellowship area before you leave today.” Possible, but what a wasted opportunity!
Consider the impact for good that Mother’s and Father’s Day could have if you were to take a moment or two to share truths like these:
- The Bible includes all believers—children and adults, singles and widowers, pastors and people—all of us, without exception, in the “family of God.”
- In this family, we care for one another—not just in words, but in Christlike love. As the hymn writer once put it, “We share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear.”
- We don’t always show the love we should, either in our earthly families or in the family of God. Praise God for Jesus, in whose cross all our sins find forgiveness!
- The gifts we present today are intended to encourage each of you in that forgiveness and in your relationship with the Savior. And, by giving them, we want to express our thankfulness to each of you for all you do here at < name your church/organization > to help this family of faith reflect Jesus’ incredible love to one another and our community!
We here at CTA pray that your Mother’s and Father’s Day celebrations communicate appreciation to all of the women and men in your faith community. May this time be a reminder of the truths of Christ’s love as you walk ever closer to him!
