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A Father’s Day Service is a great way to appreciate the dads in you congregation and community.
Have you ever wondered how we started celebrating Father’s Day in the United States? It is generally credited to a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington. Sonora’s father, a Civil War veteran, had to raise her and her five siblings after their mother died in childbirth. She was inspired to create it after hearing a sermon honoring Mothers, on Mother’s Day in 1909. She thought that the sacrifice and dedication of fathers needed to be appreciated too.
Ms. Dodd spread the word to local churches and soon many religious leaders agreed and supported the idea as well. On Sunday, June 19, 1910, the first official Father’s Day was celebrated by several churches. It was not until 1972, that it became a national holiday. Pres. Richard Nixon signed legislation officially designating the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day in the United States.
Interestingly, many predominantly Catholic countries in Europe and Latin America had already been celebrating and honoring Fathers for years. They did this as part of their St. Joseph’s Day feast and holiday, which is always observed on March 19th.
So how can our small churches join in the celebration and use it as a time to connect with our church families, as well as with our communities?
A Father’s Day Service For Your Small Church
Although Father’s Day is not a ‘religious’ holiday it does provide your small church with the opportunity to connect your church family and guests to the wonderful truth that we have a perfect Heavenly Father. We know and must be sensitive to the fact that not everyone has a father figure in their life and some may have bad experiences with an earthly father.
This is where the church can step in and share the love and hope that lies in having a relationship with God, the perfect Father; who never leaves us or forsakes us, who is always faithful and always keeps His promises. This is the very relationship that so many people are looking for in their lives. Take this opportunity to show them how much God desires to bring them into His own family!
Before, During, And After The Father’s Day Service
We are sharing several ideas for you to include some form of observance to honor and celebrate fathers in your small churches. It can be as simple as a special time of food or snacks before your service, including a time during the service for speaking to fathers and applauding godly male influence in the lives of our children, or it could be a celebration following the service where your entire church family gathers together for fellowship and fun.
All of these ideas have the core element of connection and caring for the local family. Honoring godly fathers and father figures encourages men as they see that the church is there to support and value them. It also gives our children in the small church a chance to see how the church body works together and appreciates each part of the church family.
Before The Church Service:
- Special Treats – These are always a way to a dad’s heart, and they start your Father’s Day service off with a celebratory atmosphere. Ask your hospitality team to put this together and involve the children in your small church in setting up, serving, and cleaning up as well!
- Doughnuts For Dad – Display this in the lobby with coffee too, of course! Make or purchase a doughnut peg board to display them. This is trendy right now. See if a local coffee shop or grocery store would donate the doughnuts to your small church! Be sure to put up a sign to show who the donors were.
- Pancakes With Pop – This is a great way to add in a breakfast before your Father’s Day service. You can make this an all-church event or if you want to do it on a smaller scale, just do it for kids and their father/grandfather/uncle or special father figure. You could even invite some of the women in your church to host, cook, and serve.
- Bacon Buffet – Get your creative cooks together at your small church and brainstorm, then prepare unique items to put on a Bacon Buffet for your fathers. Have fun items that will strike up plenty of conversation and smiles like bacon pops, bacon muffins, bagels with bacon jam, or candied bacon pieces. Have some fun napkins and plates, and don’t forget a fun sign!
- Welcoming Ways – Start the day off at your church with a different flare. This will let the Dads know that this is a special day to celebrate with them! Invite the kids in your small church to be special greeters at the doors. Have some of the younger ones make signs that say ’Happy Father’s Day’. This is a VIP welcome for sure! You could even have a special pin, boutonniere, or sticker for all the fathers and father figures to wear.
During The Church Service:
Inviting the kids in your small church to be involved in the Father’s Day service is a wonderful gift for the Fathers to see. You could have them do a special musical number together as a group or have a dad and kid sing or play instruments for a special number. This would be a wonderful memory for everyone!
Ask teens or children to do a reading or a poem about Dads. Maybe your pastor could read scripture passages that would tie into the Father’s Day service.
Videotape some of the kids of all ages in your church answering one of the following questions:
- What’s the best activity that you do/or have done with your Dad?
- What do you think is your Dad’s best talent?
- If you could give your Dad any gift in the world (no cost of course) what would it be?
- What’s the most important thing that your Dad has taught you?
You can then show the video at the beginning of your Father’s Day service. This idea gives you the opportunity to use church family members who are good with audio & video. Teens would be great at this!
Another great idea is to host a DAD Panel. This would be a panel of Different-Aged Dads from your church. During this panel, your pastor will interview the dads during the service and incorporate the questions/answers into their message for the day. Be sure to send the dads the questions prior to the service so they have time to think of concise answers.
Additionally, you could ask different fathers to share testimonies of how God has directed and guided them in the path of being a father. Have the pastor close the Father’s Day service with a message about God, our heavenly Father, and the example He is to us.
After the Church Service:
- Making Memories That Last– Create a photo booth area for families to grab a picture. It allows for a fun chance to create a lasting memory. It also encourages people to hang out a bit and connect with one another as they wait for their turn.
- Gifts For Fathers – Think outside the box. Be creative with your Father’s Day gifts at your small church. Check out our Facebook group, people have shared wonderful ideas. Gifts are a great token to remember the day, but they also convey love and appreciation from your church to the fathers.
- Host an after-church BBQ/picnic – invite families to bring side dishes and desserts to share. Your church will provide the meat and beverages. This is a great time to mix and meet other families, enjoy fellowship, and build relationships within your church family.
Here are some fun activities you could add to make the day special:- Putting For Prizes Contest – Invite the dads to participate in a putting contest and give away some fun prizes for various challenges: Longest putt, most accurate, best style, etc.
- Dunk Your Dad – Rent a dunk tank where dads sit on the ‘hot seat’ and kids get to throw balls to see if they can dunk the target.
- Ice Cream Truck – Contact a local ice cream or snow cone truck to see if they will come to your church. Have the church cover the costs for the dads, others pay on their own.
These fun activities spark intergenerational connections. It’s a time for dads to have relaxing family time and food provided and a time for your small church to show their love and support for families.
A Special Service Full Of Love
This Father’s Day service is very different and may not be for everyone. Consider dedicating a portion of your Father’s Day service to Missing My Dad. It can provide a meaningful opportunity for individuals to remember and honor their fathers who are not with them whether they live at a distance, are in the military and deployed overseas, or have passed away.
Adding some of the activities below could enhance this service and show empathy to your church community:
- A Wall of Fathers Fame – Ask participants to bring in a photo of their father to display on a nicely decorated table. Provide small cards for them to write their name & the name of their father.
- Miss You Board – Have a brightly decorated bulletin board area with the question posted: What do you miss about your dad? Provide post-it notes and pens for guests to write and post their answers.
- Memorial Keepsakes – Create or purchase some memorial keepsakes that participants can take home with them, such as cards with quotes or poems about fathers, or a Bible verse about our Heavenly Father.
This version of a Father’s Day service is similar to that of a Blue Christmas service, where grieving people are seen and allowed a space to grieve and honor missed loved ones during the holidays. This is a great opportunity for your church to create a supportive environment, where everyone feels welcomed, valued, and respected. It is also a way for you to demonstrate that God cares for those who are hurting. He is our ultimate example of a compassionate Father.
Celebrate The Father’s In Your Church
I am sure that the commercialism of this holiday is probably a far cry from what Sonora Dodd had in mind when she came up with the idea of Father’s Day. Her first thought was for this special day to be celebrated in churches everywhere. We have the chance to bring that original thought back to this holiday in our small churches.
We hope that you can use some of these ideas to celebrate Father’s Day in your small churches. We love to hear when you have used an idea in your church, so snap some pictures and share your story on our Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook page!
Read More:
25+ Ways To Celebrate Father’s Day – Small Church Ministry
5 Creative Father’s Day Outreach Ideas For Your Small Church
