Things We Can Do to Boost "Low Attendance Sundays"
In the article above, "You're Not Really Teaching As Many Lessons As You Think -- and what to do about it," I reference a poll of the Ten Lowest Attended Sundays. Like many polls, it didn't suggest solutions for improving attendance on these "lowest" Sundays, so I've tapped my own experience and put on my Christian education and pastor thinking cap to suggest several.
While the poll was about worship attendance, there's an obvious correlation to Sunday School attendance. And in keeping with the intent of the previous article, the following suggestions are mostly about increasing the number of teaching opportunities we have each year with our kids, and the attendance at those opportunities.
Here are "The Ten Lowest Attended Sundays" ranked by frequency of response. It's from a poll of hundreds of pastors shared in Thom Rainer's blog. The list lines up with most of the churches I've served or been part of, and I'm guessing the same is true for you too. Below the list are my suggestions. Consider them discussion starters 
- Father’s Day.
- The Sunday after Thanksgiving day.
- Memorial Day weekend Sunday.
- Labor Day weekend Sunday.
- The Sundays before and after Christmas.
- The Sunday nearest the Fourth of July.
- The Sunday nearest to New Year’s Day.
- Time changes: spring forward.
- Spring and fall break Sundays.
- Summer Sundays, particularly in July.
My suggestions about what to do about each of the Ten Lowest Sundays to boost Sunday School attendance (which may also help worship attendance)
1: Father’s Day
See the END of the article above this one where I describe several things one of my congregations did to attract Dads on Father's Day. Some churches "run" from this secular holiday. We embraced it with Biblical fervor.
2: The Sunday after Thanksgiving Day
In the last church where I served on staff, we made the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend the "Hanging of the Greens" Sunday, which included a shortened service followed by a special "soup lunch." The service and lesson for everyone that day focused on an Advent story and theme which led to a quick "decoration making" project while people ate lunch, and then they hung their decorations on the trees. These themes/lessons were quite unique. One of the most memorable themes was "angels come in all colors" -- which was especially appropriate in our multicultural congregation. Another was "Magi putting their treasures (promises) on the tree." These decorations were saved and hung each year. Instant fond memory and lesson reinforcement!
3 and 4: Memorial Day and Labor Day Weekend Sundays
According to various estimates, 1 in every 5 Americans travels more than 50 miles away from home during Memorial Day weekend, and the number doubles over Labor Day. But let me ask this... rather than "punting" on these Sundays, what if we did something that attracted MORE of the HALF who are staying home?
One of the activities that people look forward to on these two holiday weekends is picnicking and getting outside. So why not go with an outdoor picnic theme and meal for your worship and lessons?
5 and 7: The Sundays before and after Christmas and the Sunday nearest to New Year’s Day.
Holding Sunday School on these two Sundays sounds reasonable to me, except if Christmas falls on Sunday. But there's a bigger opportunity here. In the preceding article, I suggested that Sunday Schools hold a "Mini-VBS" after Christmas. This would add more learning time in a popular format during a time of year when parents need something for their kids to do. Keep in mind that the dates for this Break vary widely, and most travelers return home on Dec 26th and 27th. I can easily see this "mini VBS" being an intergenerational event as well.
In one church, our young adult group hosted an all-church "tree burning" bonfire on an evening before New Years Eve. After roasting some weenies, people were invited to toss their trees on the fire (or help someone else) to "burn their past failures (etc.) and start afresh." It was an intensely memorable and visual teaching event disguised as fellowship.
6. The Sunday nearest the Fourth of July
People still talk about the time we wheeled an old pew down Main Street in the 4th of July parade. On it were signs like "Thank God for Freedom." It was led by a "church ladies brigade," kids with flags, young adults pushing strollers, teens passing out flyers, people carrying signs like "Social Justice is the American Way." Lastly, the pastor brought up the rear carrying a sign that said "The End is Here" on one side, and the pun "Church: It's What's for Sinners" on the other. We organized it the Sunday before the 4th, talked about how we were representing God and all the churches, and prayed for the town.
8. Time changes: spring forward.
How about a special "Sleep in Sunday Morning" and instead, create a special Sunday evening service with a lesson time, meal, and special attraction.
9. Spring and fall break Sundays.
Again, some people are traveling, but not everyone.
This suggestion is for Sunday School only: Do some special event during the Break with teaching. Why? Because many working parents need childcare help during the break (or something for their kids to do). You could plan and practice something for the kids to present in Sunday worship (to boost attendance there, too).
10. Summer Sundays, particularly in July.
Doing the same thing all the time is ritual, not worship. How about targeting the last two Sundays in July with something special, such as a "Water in the Bible" set of lessons (kids bring your swimsuit!) and worship.
Doing things differently isn't easy. That's why so many of our Sunday mornings look the same, and perhaps why some people don't feel they'll miss anything if they stay home. What would happen if your last two Sundays in July were known as "The Different Kind of Worship Sundays" ?
Attendance can have very LOCAL issues. Where you live, what denomination you belong to, and your congregation's demographics and socio-economics can all play a role in creating the "lows." But habits, traditions, and expectations play a role too, and those take time and experimentation to change.
Case in point: As a young pastor, I served in a church that went from 200 to 30 in worship in the summer because, they said, "it was a lake community," and because many people "said" they attended the large ecumenical summer-only, celebrity-preacher-led service at the lake. In fact, many people used the lake and service as cover for simply taking the summer off from church. Years later, I learned that one of the likely reasons for the habit of taking the summer off probably started with the long-time Senior Pastor who took every August off. It took a couple of years, but we eventually got summer attendance up to around 75. Old habits and attitudes die hard. In retrospect, I definitely think we could have done better had the service not been a "mini me" of what people got Sept-May (but I wasn't in charge of that).
In another era, churches like the one I previously served in could look the other way during the summer and on certain Sundays. Needless to say, this is not that era.
No matter what you do, there will always be 10 Sundays with "the lowest" attendance.
In a time of diminishing attendance, the goal of making changes is not merely to decrease the "severe lows," but to teach us some new ways of being together, to increase the opportunities to care and be cared for, to learn and teach, and to praise and encounter the presence of God. Complacency and complaining isn't leadership.
I hope "the list" and some of my suggestions stir your own. Feel free to leave a comment below by "replying."
