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The state of Washington celebrated the first official Father’s Day on June 19, 1910. Popularity slowly spread, and in 1972, Father’s Day became a national holiday in the USA. In the United States, the third Sunday in June is set aside for Father’s Day. Many other nations also celebrate Father’s Day.

Churches celebrate Father’s Day in different ways. Set aside this day to honor the men in your congregation, whether you pass out gifts or host an all-church BBQ. Encourage them in the Lord, and let them know you love them and are thankful for them. 

When planning your giveaways, always plan extras for extended family or visitors who may attend. If you happen to have extras after your giveaway, encourage the men to take an extra or two and give them to a neighbor or co-worker for Father’s Day.

Honor Men On Father’s Day

You will find ideas for each of these categories in this blog post. 

  • Gifts that can have a spiritual impact
  • Father’s Day activities before and after your church service
  • Ways to honor your men during your Sunday service
  • Photo booth ideas 
  • Fun little gift tag ideas
  • Bacon ideas

Gifts That Can Have A Spiritual Impact

We are first citizens of the kingdom of God and second citizens on Earth. So whether they are mature Christians, babes in Christ, or have yet to realize their need for a Savior, giving gifts that can have a spiritual impact is always a good idea. 

  • Jesus Nut Keychain: Key ring with a nut hung on it (no bolt or washer, just the nut) and a little card explaining the story of the Jesus Nut.
  • Devotion books or bookmarks
  • Create a printout: Dad’s Family Prayer Points At-A-Glance.

Father’s Day Activities Before Your Church Service

Activities before church services provide an opportunity for meaningful fellowship. Try one of these activities to allow the men to enjoy some guy time with some of their friends.

  • Set up a table with cooked bacon in the foyer. Before the service, men can stop at the table for a piece or two of bacon. Try a chocolate fountain to dip bacon in chocolate. If you can’t access a chocolate fountain, a small slow cooker with melted chocolate also works.
  • Serve donuts and coffee. If this is an every Sunday happening at your church, consider honoring your men by offering specialty creamer, coffee, or pastries just for them.
  • Have a potluck breakfast before service. Use one of the devotions from Year-Round Men’s Breakfast Ideas.
  • Set up a table for a Tie Exchange. The week or two before, ask men to bring in ties to donate for the exchange. Then on Father’s Day, each man can take a tie home. If you plan this well ahead of time, purchase various holiday ties to contribute to the table.
  • Serve cooked bacon in a waffle cone to men when they arrive at church.
  • Place coloring pages and crayons on a table in the lobby for children to make a picture for dad, grandpa, or another man at the church.
  • Place a bowl of Father’s Day Candy in your welcome area.

Honor Men During Your Sunday Service

Make the most of this day to honor and encourage men in their walk with the Lord and in their position with their families, whether they are fathers, sons, brothers, or uncles.

Prayer During Service

Ask the men of the church to stand and have a time of prayer over them for wisdom, blessings, guidance, and strength and for them to know the presence of God more deeply throughout the year. “In small church prayer times, members benefit from praying together with those they have relationships with. Some may be family and others are good friends. Their lives are intertwined. A small church ‘does life’ together.” (Quote from 3 Small Church New Year’s Events.)

Trading Places Skit

During service, invite some of your dads and kids to the front. Give a series of tasks to act out with a twist. The kids act as the “dad” while the dads as the “kids.” Tasks can include: “dad” comfort “child” who is crying, “dad” put a bandaid on the “child’s” arm, “dad” feed the “baby” some baby food, and “dad” help the “child” hammer a nail. Finish with the “child” hugging the “dad” and telling them they love them.

“God Is Our Father” Sermon

Tailor the sermon about the love our God, the Father, has for us.

Testimony Video

In April or May, reach out to fathers in your church and ask for volunteers to share a short testimony of God working in their lives or something that brought them joy on video. Create your video two or three weeks before Father’s Day. Then, show the video during your small church service as a testimony of God’s power for the men of the church.

Other Ideas

  • Invite two or three fathers to share a story about being a father and how that has helped them in their relationship with God, their Father.
  • Give a sermon based on The Lord’s Prayer.
  • During Sunday school on Father’s Day, gather the children to make the special popcorn found in 4 Easy Sunday School Father’s Day Crafts. Make enough for every man in the service. Have the children pass out bags of the special popcorn before the service is dismissed. 
  • Keep the momentum of acknowledging the importance of your men and announce your next men’s event during service. Find a new idea in 24 Popular Men’s Events For Small Churches.

Celebrate Father’s Day After Your Church Service

  • All-church BBQ: If you have available funds, offer a drawing for a few big prizes that men can enter. Find ways to include everyone in your cookout in A Better Way To Include People In A Small Church Potluck.
  • Ice cream social with sundaes and rootbeer floats
  • Cookout hotdogs, burgers, and brats over a campfire
  • Bacon cheeseburger option: Only men have the bacon option for their burgers at a cookout.
  • Cakewalk after service: Ladies bring their favorite desserts, not just cake. To save time, since you want all men to win a prize, set up chairs in two lines, back-to-back. Tape 4” yellow star cut-outs on at least ⅓ of the chairs. Men who sit on the gold star chairs leave the game to choose a prize and more men join in the fun. Play until every man wins a prize. 
  • Rootbeer Bar: Do a tasting of different rootbeer brands. Set up a Make Your Own Rootbeer Float. Or offer rootbeer float popsicles. Give the men a bottle of rootbeer to take home.
  • Milkshakes for Men: Offer milkshakes for the men, and lemonade, sweet tea, or water bottles for everyone else.
  • Food truck day: Give men coupons for something free. (The church can settle the coupon bill at the end of the event.) Donut truck, snow cone truck, taco truck, etc.
  • All-Church Lunch that features lots of meat, sandwiches, sides, and desserts. Give each man a party favor or a small gift to take home. At the beginning of your lunch, try one of the icebreaker questions found in Why Icebreakers Are Important In Small Churches.
  • Men’s Snack Mix Bar: Give men a mason or other jar to fill with snacks of their choice. Offer nuts, colored chocolate candies, chex mix or pub mix, flavored popcorn, and more. 
  • Host a community Car Show in your church parking lot. Keep Your Senior Adults Connected And Engaged In Church gives ideas for a fantastic car show.

Photo Booth Ideas For Father’s Day

Photo booths build community, strengthen families, and even contain fun and laughs. Once your photo booth is all set up, use painter’s tape and make an X on the floor at the best spot to stand to take a picture to show your whole photo booth area. 

  • Set up an area with a ladder and tool props.
  • Create an outdoor-looking space with fishing poles and a fishing theme.
  • Affix ties –– lots of them –– to the background wall.
  • Use something local for inspiration: amusement park, farm theme, outdoor activity.
  • Take photos, and then next week, present dads with photos of them with their family or friends.
  • For a general theme, use one of the Fun Little Gift Tag sayings below, and create a banner for your photo moment.

Fun Little Gift Tag Ideas

  • Donuts & coffee: “We DONUT what we’d do without you!”
  • Tape Measure: “Loved beyond measure”
  • BBQ Sauce: “You are awesomesauce!!”
  • Nuts: “We’re NUTS about you!”
  • Reese’s Pieces: “We love you to pieces!”
  • Box of 4 muffins: “We’d be muffin without you!”
  • Dude Food gift bag: jerky, sunflower seeds, granola bars, snacks: “You are one cool dude!”
  • Snapple with a label: “Have a Tea-riffic day!”
  • BBQ seasoning tag: Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season
  • Basket of snack-size chips: “You’re all that and a bag of chips!”
  • Novelty socks with a candy bar: “You knock our socks off!”
  • Moon Pies: “We love you to the moon and back!”
  • Flashlights: “For the men who light up our lives”

Check out our Gift Table idea in Father’s Day Ideas For A Small Church.

4 Bacon Ideas For Father’s Day

Bacon is often a common theme for Father’s Day. You can even find bacon pictures on Father’s Day greeting cards. So try one of these ideas to reach the bacon-lover dads in your small church congregation.

  1. Set up a table with cooked bacon in the foyer. Then, before service, men can stop at the table for a piece or two of bacon.
  2. Before or after service: Serve cooked bacon in a waffle cone to men when they arrive at church.
  3. Take-home gifts: One-pound packages of bacon, bacon jam, maple bacon popcorn, or smoked bacon salt.
  4. At the all-church dinner, offer men bacon for their cheeseburgers or hotdogs.

Honor & Appreciate On Father’s Day

Celebrating Father’s Day allows small church congregations to show the men in the church they are loved, valued, and cared about. Father’s Day is a time to remember the contributions and sacrifices men have made to support and care for those in their sphere of influence. Manhood offers stress and pressure. This day is a moment to let men know their efforts for their family, friends, and church are appreciated. 

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