Almost everyone can remember the anticipation, excitement, and joy of entering their first themed amusement park. "We're going to Disneyworld!" sparks the imagination for young and old in ways that "We're going to the DMV!" never will. This excitement is what amusement facilities strive to deliver every time you visit. However, it doesn't happen by accident. 

Amusement facilities are in the business to attract guests and increase attendance. They constantly strive for creative approaches and new strategies to bring in visitors year after year. Therefore, the amusement industry has always had to be on the cutting edge of innovation to maintain and increase their numbers.

The church has something in common with the amusement industry—we are both relentlessly searching for new ways to bring people in. Amusement parks do it to make money, and churches do it to share Christ.

What successful strategies from the amusement industry can we integrate at church to maximize our ministry? 

1. Family Centered
The general marketplace is more focused on families today than they have ever been before. You can see it everywhere you go: restaurants with children's menus, grocery stores with themed carts, malls with play areas, dentist offices with video games, and more. Think about the number of diaper changing stations in restrooms today vs. 10 years ago. If for no other reason, this dramatic increase says to the guest that this particular facility cares about them and cares about kids. Families may be the most sought-after demographic in the market today.

This is certainly the approach used by Six Flags, as they engineer a shift in their reputation from a teen-dominated facility to a family-centered entertainment facility. Six Flags now considers the family market as central to its comeback. Smoking is now banned in all Six Flags parks. Daily parades are being added. 

Mark Shapiro, chief executive officer, says, "We've got to jump into family waters.  Family is an added opportunity for us to expand our business." 

What are you doing at your church to "jump into the family waters?" Is your church facility a destination for families?

To make your ministry more family centric, you can add a family worship service, transform your children's area into a themed environment, or make your facility a gathering spot for families all during the week with a coffee café or bistro.

Eric Taylor with Worlds of Wow, says, "Providing kid-friendly themed spaces and play attractions is one of the best ways to show families that you care about their kids. It's not just decoration, it's a ministry tool."

What is the "wow" factor for families in your facility?

2. Intentional Play
Have you ever been to the park, sat down on the bench, closed your eyes, and just listened to the sound of children playing? You hear boys and girls laughing, screaming, talking, and running. It is the true sound of playfulness and innocence. Turns out there's a science and health benefit behind it all.

The amusement industry is on the leading edge of integrating new forms of play into their facilities that continue to attract families and bring them back. These forms of play have dual purposes. They are providing attractions that let the kids play, while also developing their problem solving skills, communication skills, and encouraging physical fitness.  Many new products are even integrating RFID tags, touch-screen panels, interactive blasters and more to make the play experience more than just fun and games. It also keeps customers coming back to spend more money.

What does this mean for the local church? It means that we should incorporate our own "intentional play" aspects into our facilities to keep children coming back. Come back for relationships, of course, not to spend money.

Children's Pastor Jonathan Barnard at The Rock in Castle Rock, Colorado, describes intentional play and its benefits.

"Interaction needs to be fostered in the Children's Department," he said. "Many kids do not naturally talk and connect, so you must be intentional about it. It does not matter how it is done, but it is very important to ministry and growth that kids connect with other kids at church. The best way I have found to connect kids is through a before-church or after-church fun area for kids to hang out in."

Intentional play is play for a purpose – for the children to have fun and connect with each other and their teachers.

Does your church allow opportunities for intentional play? Do you have a modular play attraction, slide, outdoor playground or video game gathering area for your children? Are your volunteers and staff trained to interact and play with the children in order to better connect with them during the teaching time?

3. Agritainment
Across the country, farm-based family festivals have grown so quickly that's there's even an industry name for them now—agritainment. This trend started many years ago with the first you-pick pumpkin patches. They quickly became popular, so farmers started to add more attractions like corn mazes, hayrides, inflatables, and petting zoos. Today, there are more than 300 fall family festival destinations around the country, and it's become big business.

Complementary to the agritainment concept is the proliferation of using natural play elements as play environments. These locations incorporate the natural landscape as the feature attractions: gardens, trees, rocks, boulders, sand and more. Adding natural elements to playgrounds makes the area more inviting to children and families, engages them on a multitude of levels, and encourages them to spend more time enjoying the activities and the scenery. It's a "back to nature" approach that families are demanding.  

How is your church integrating agritainment? Are you hosting any outdoor events or festivals? How could you make this one of your key outreaches of the year? Many churches that I work with tell me that their October fall festival is the biggest outreach of the year.

4. Customized Design
As the bar is continually being raised for play attractions, amusement centers are getting more creative in order to compete. The new family entertainment center has to exceed what the other facility across town is doing in order to draw their guests. And, these amusement centers aren't ordering one-of-a-kind attractions from a catalog. They are working with vendors and consultants to design custom attractions specifically suited to their needs and market.

Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas, exemplifies this trend with their new outdoor play area.

Children's Pastor Lanette James says, "The challenge becomes that other churches our size are mostly located in large metropolitan cities and their needs our very different from ours. Tyler is still a very small town, with small-town ways and values. So I find myself stepping out and creating new. Often, Green Acres Baptist Church doesn't fit the mold, so we must design systems, facilities and play areas that specifically meet our needs."

What type of need in your community is unmet right now that you could address with an attraction specifically suited to your community and market? Building a site-specific, ministry-specific attraction will ensure the effectiveness of your investment.

The church can benefit by analyzing the successes of other industries in reaching people. The amusement industry, in particular, is helpful to learn new, creative ways to attract families and children. My vision for the church is that other industries would look to us for the next innovations that they can implement instead of the other way around.  

Reagan Hillier, with Five Twelve Consulting (www.512consulting.com), provides innovative ideas, play attractions and themed environments for churches and faith-based businesses.