How to Plan a Fun Church Party

Church parties used to have a bit of bad reputation, even among the most faithful. Outside of the prospect of good food – a staple of most church parties since the invention of church parties – there wasn’t a lot of fun to be counted on.

That’s different now. Having a fun church party is, like any kind of party, just a matter of proper planning and coordination. If you follow the right steps, it’s hard to not have a good party.

Here are some of the simple steps to consider before you send out the invitations or post a party notice in the church bulletin.

Planning a Fun Church Party: Understand the Purpose

Before you get to deep into planning, it’s good to look at your goal for the party. Are you looking to foster fellowship with church members? Perhaps your goal is to raise money for a specific project or church mission? Or it could be you are recognizing an event, perhaps something important to your faith or a day important for the congregation, like the opening of a new church building or starting a new program.

Set a Budget Early

As with any business or personal endeavor, it’s important to first consider how much money you are willing to spend before diving into the details of the event. You want to be frugal with your church’s money, but realistic enough that a fun event does have a cost. There are many different issues to consider, including:

• Decorations
• Food
• Games
• Other entertainment (music, contests, etc.)
• Cost of set up

Time should also be considered a part of budgeting. Your time is as valuable as your money, if not more so!

Don’t Go It Alone

Remember that this is for church, and one of the most important aspects of church are people working together to achieve a common goal. Don’t shoulder all the hard work. Make sure you have a group of people equally sharing the responsibility. Not only does this mean all the decision-making is not on you, but you also will get better ideas with many people involved.

As part of this, be sure to delegate tasks. There are those who need to be involved in pre-planning, such as picking party purposes and themes. Others should oversee preparation and delivering food, while another group needs to handle the task of setting up for the party and then, once it’s over, putting everything away and cleaning up.

Pick a Theme

This can be tough and should be carefully considered, as the theme will decide what kind of decorations, food and entertainment you have at your get together. Do you want to combine a country (Mexico, say, or Germany) with another theme (fellowship, community service work). The combinations are limitless, so it’s important to settle on one theme and stick with it throughout the planning and execution of the party.

Find Fun Activities

Whether you are trying to raise money or just enjoy each other’s company, it’s key to give people something to do other than stand around, drinking punch and making conversation (which describes most church parties in the old days). Now, there are a multitude of choices to entertain your party goers, from contests like an inflatable jousting ring- one of many “party inflatables” available at places like AirFunGames in New Port Richey, which has a whole section of suggestions for church parties. These include bounce houses, carnival games and rides.

Find Ways to Save Money

Does one of the church members make a restaurant-quality bananas foster? Is one of your church choir members also a guitar player with a songbook that includes pop tunes everyone loves? Now is the time to assess the talents of your friends, co-workers and fellow church members to see who might be willing to help throw your party – and not get paid much, if anything, to do it.

Don’t be discouraged if planning the party becomes overwhelming. Remember to make it a group effort. Also, remember why you are doing this in the first place: to foster a sense of community among your fellow church members. That’s more important than getting the party arrangements perfect.