Getting People to Participate in Your Health and Wellness Ministry

In order to keep participation rates high in your Health and Wellness Ministry, you will need to learn to think like a marketer. You need your ministry activities to stay top-of-mind with your members and effectively get the word out about upcoming events. Here are some specific suggestions:

Start a phone tree

Make sure to capture the names and phone numbers of everyone that attends or indicates an interest in your ministry activities. Create a list of volunteers from the congregation and supply them with that list of names and phone numbers. Assign the volunteers the responsibility of calling those that have indicated an interest in attending events. It's best to make those phone calls only one or two days before your event.

Automated phone messages

This one is great for participation in any church activity. Invest in software that will allow you to program the phone numbers of members and send out a pre-recorded message to all of them at once. Then keeping your members posted about upcoming events is as easy as keeping your contact list updated.

Church announcements, bulletin

Make sure you take full advantage whatever means of communication your church already uses. Most churches read morning announcements, print bulletins and will allow you to hand out fliers. You can save on the cost of paper by using half or quarter page fliers and/or printing on both sides of the paper.

Support and positive attitude of leaders

Having the support of the leaders in your church will go a very long way to encourage others to participate in ministry activities. People tend to gravitate towards and show interest in the things leaders show interest in.

Food

People love food! Enough said.

Communication

Clearly communicate details of events beforehand such as benefits, what to expect, and specific activities.

Ask for it

Tell them you're looking forward to their participation, enlist their participation (ask for healthy recipe contributions, etc).

Bulletin board

Consider starting a ministry bulletin board and put in a prominent location in the church building.

Public recognition

This may be one of the best motivators to encourage people to participate in your programs. There are a million ways to put this into place. For example, you could have participants enter some sort of fun contest or drawing at your event and announce the winner in the bulletin or during church announcements. You can even make the prize associated with attendance. Be creative and have fun with it.