Recently we held a Ministry Expo for our church. A Ministry Expo is a scheduled event where members of our church had the opportunity to consider serving in various ministries that we offer at the church. On the day of The Ministry Expo, we had tables set up throughout the hallways of our church emphasizing and promoting different ministries in which we really needed some new volunteers. The result was that we had almost 100 service interest cards filled out and turned in. We had a lot of people who were stepping up to the plate and saying, “I want to be involved in doing something at my church to serve the Lord.”

If you are interested in having a Ministry Expo, here is what we did.

Planning

Our leadership team met to discuss The Ministry Expo several times. We discussed why we were doing this and how we would do it. In the end, every staff member weighed in on it, and everybody had some good ideas and input to make the event a success.

We decided on 13 ministry tables that included most of the ministries in the church.

  1. Bus
  2. Audio Visual
  3. Security
  4. Children’s Ministry
  5. Middle School
  6. High School
  7. Forever Young (our Thursday lunch and Bible Study for seniors)
  8. Greeter
  9. Information Desk
  10. Funeral Team
  11. Sports
  12. Music Ministry
  13. Quilting

We then recruited volunteers from each ministry to decorate and staff the tables on Ministry Expo Sunday. The church provided a table, a tablecloth and a sign identifying the ministry at the table. Each ministry was in charge of being creative and decorating their table so that it would catch the attention of people. I thought they were very well decorated. We had volunteers from each ministry staff the table because sometimes peers talking with peers is a better way to recruit than having a staff member recruit.

Promotion

We promoted The Ministry Expo from the pulpit, bulletin announcements and with videos. Three weeks in advance of the Ministry Expo, we started showing videos of different people who serve in the ministries we were promoting. They talked about the blessings and joys of serving and the need for more workers in that ministry. Everyone knew the date of Ministry Expo and the ministries that would be recruiting that day.

Ministry Expo Sunday

Currently Canton Baptist Temple has an 8 am service, 9 am Sunday School and a 10:15 am service. The volunteers staffed their tables 15 minutes before a service and kept their table open for about 20 minutes after the 10:15 service. Each table had Service Interest Cards members could fill out. All a member had to do was fill in their name and phone number and check the box by ministries they were interested in. Service Interest Cards were also in the bulletin.

I preached a message on serving, and it was a joy to see people go to the tables to ask questions and fill out the cards.

Follow Up

On the Tuesday after Ministry Expo Sunday, the leadership staff met to go over the Service Interest Cards that were turned in at the ministry tables. CBT staff and ministry leaders contacted everyone who turned in a Service Ministry Card within a week. Our goal was to thank them for filling out a card and to give them the next step for serving in that ministry. For instance, to serve in Children’s Ministry, a Ministry Covenant form needed to be filled out and turned in, and a background check needed to be done.  A new bus driver needed to get a Commercial Driver’s License.

Part of follow up was to have answers for people who did not qualify for a ministry. There were some people who filled out a card who were not members of the church, who had not been a member long enough to serve in Children’s ministry or a child who was not old enough to serve in a ministry. This gave us the opportunity to talk to people about church membership or to let a person know when they would be qualified to work in a ministry. We had some people join the church because of Ministry Expo.

We plan to have a Ministry Expo every year. It gives us a time to challenge our people to serve and get involved in the church In addition, we have people joining every year, and they need to see where they can serve.

Ministry Expo was a huge success for us, and I pray it will be a huge success for you.