Brilliant Tips for Successful Catholic Parish Summer Events

Chances are your Catholic church staff is starting to plan for summer events and we’re willing to bet that you already have your date for your parish picnic on the calendar. Whether your summer gatherings include a BBQ, Mass on the grass, live music, games, cakewalks, or pastor dunk-tanks, make sure you start out strong with our list of summer event planning essentials. For the sake of this blog, we’ll use a parish picnic as an example, but, feel free to apply these tips to any gathering you plan to have this summer, or beyond!

5 Tips For Successful Summer Events

1. A Personal Invitation

Picnics are great events to engage in outreach to your neighborhood and surrounding community. Consider sending a personal invitation to your neighbors inviting them to the party! Every Door Direct Mail by the USPS makes sending out neighborhood invitations like this incredibly easy and affordable. You can save even more time by using one of our pre-designed parish picnic invitation templates. Just plug in your event information, download it, and send it out!

2. Bulletins
Don’t forget to set your most recent church bulletin out for those in attendance. This way, if a parishioner brings a guest, or a family from the neighborhood attends because of the personal mailer they received, they can go home with more information about your parish. Be sure that your bulletin includes ways to join the parish, contact details for staff/ministry leaders, and any other information guests might desire. Display the bulletins near the name tags or the entrance/exit to the picnic for better visibility! If your bulletin feels like it misses the mark and doesn’t quite seem to illustrate exactly how wonderful your parish is, our design team specializes in refreshing church bulletin designs. Work with us to better represent your vibrant parish community within the pages of your weekly bulletin.

3. Nametags 
When we asked our church-going staff members about what they like most when it comes to their church’s parish picnic, everyone said the same thing — the opportunity to meet and connect with people in the parish that they wouldn’t normally cross paths with. Events like a parish picnic go a long way toward fostering an environment that strengthens your community due to the new connections made between members who wouldn’t, otherwise, be in the same place at the same time. Make these new connections even easier by providing nametags for everyone.

4. Celebration Banner & Signage
Jump into WeCreate and download one of our parish picnic graphics to use in your welcome sign, banner, or other signage during the event! Having sign-in tables, food options, entrances, exits, bathrooms, and parking clearly labeled aids in creating a welcoming environment for all!

5. Church Staff & Ministry Leader T-Shirts

To easily identify those in leadership at the parish, make sure they have matching T-shirts with the church logo on them! Don’t have an awesome t-shirt-worthy logo? We can help you design one or, simply, refresh it to look more professional, modern, and great on a T-shirt!

Some of the best things about being part of a church community are the community celebrations, feasts, and holidays. We hope you have a wonderful parish picnic this year!

“So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better
on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life.
So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of
his life which God gives him on earth.”

—Ecclesiastes 8:15

For more content like this to inspire your parish staff and volunteers, head over to the "Parish Life" section of our blog!

Updated on 03-18-2024