10 Words to Remember When Executing a Clear Plan
The weary mom looked at the banner and thought, “I wonder if it’s really true.” She snapped a quick pic of the sign and entered the worship center. Hoping no one would see her, she took a seat in the back row and waited.
The banner read, “Connect Camp Families, We are praying for you!” The week prior, a church member held a note card with her child’s name written on it and prayed that God would draw this family closer to Him. There they were sitting in our church. A prayer answered.
The mom and daughter quickly left the worship center that day, but the Spirit of God kept drawing them back to our church. Within weeks of hosting Connect Camps in 2023, they had joined our church family, and the daughter was baptized. As they continued to come, God began to heal and restore their family through a life-giving relationship with God and life-impacting relationships within our church family.
At Heritage, we see God move in the most unexpected ways… even using a banner to minister to a family.
We work hard to execute a clear plan for Connect Camps each summer, especially pre-camp and post-camp so that we create an environment where kids and families can encounter God. Our pre-camp plan includes praying, recruiting, training, partnering, and advertising. Prayer is a priority.
Church members sign a prayer banner the week before camp during our church-wide prayer gathering.
Crew members are recruited to build relationships and trained to connect with new people.
Partners provide scholarship dollars that support children in our community.
Advertising celebrates wins and encourages new families to come to camp.
Our post-camp plan intentionally seeks to identify and connect with families who are not part of churches in our community. We use the camp registration form and spiritual assessment form to find those families. We invite them to stay for the “After Party” on Friday after camp. Our church members look for opportunities to talk to moms and dads. We welcome them to a special service on the Sunday after camp.
Here are the 10 Words we Remember as we Create & Execute Clear Plans to Meet new Families:
Pray
Dream
Goals
Strategize
Identify
Build
Communicate
Implement
Evaluate
Celebrate
In 2024, the week after camp, we made 81 doorstep visits to families who are not yet part of a church. We have at least one event per month for six months following camp that we invite these families to attend. Since camp, we have had four new families start regularly attending our church.
Remember the mom and the banner? This year, that mom was on our Connect Camps Leadership Team and served each day of camp. She was also instrumental in beginning a Deaf ministry at our church. Recently, we began a new Sunday morning LifeGroup for Deaf and hearing adults. We named that LifeGroup “Connect”!
What began as a plan to make a banner, continues with two rows of Deaf adults praising Jesus in American Sign Language during worship. How great is our life-giving God!
- Jennifer Blair Foster, Minister of Discipleship and Administration, Heritage Baptist Church - Montgomery, AL
Jennifer Blair Foster has served as the Minister of Family Discipleship and Administration at Heritage Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL. She began serving at Heritage in 2008 as the Minister to Preschool and Children. She enjoys gathering with her church family on Sunday mornings to worship God and study His Word. She is an experienced Connect Camps host and a long-time partner of Connect Ministries. She has been married to her husband, Reid, for 25 years. They have a yellow Lab named Layla.