Begin praying for your church’s Jerusalem Marketplace.
Ask God to prepare the hearts of church members, workers, and families who will attend.
Choose a format for your Jerusalem Marketplace.
- Will you meet in the morning, afternoon, or evening?
- Will you meet every day for a week, or once a week for several weeks?
- Will your program be for families, or will only children be invited to attend?
- Will you meet at your church or another location?
- Will you meet indoors or outdoors?
Set dates
As you’re considering dates, you may want to find out about other summer programs offered by your church or your community so you can avoid conflicts.
Choose a director
If you’re reading this, that’s you! The director is responsible for planning, recruiting staff, and overseeing all details to ensure that your Jerusalem Marketplace works smoothly. Consider recruiting a team of leaders to head up areas such as publicity, registration, shops, Tribe Leaders, and drama. Delegation allows church members to use their gifts and passions in exciting ways!
Set a budget
Look through the entire Jerusalem Marketplace catalog to get an idea of what you’ll need for your program. Write down the cost of each item you’ll need, and then tally the total cost to set your budget. Your church may already include VBS or family ministry in its budget. If so, find out what funds are available. If your church doesn’t have a budget in place, don’t worry! Money for a quality program needn’t be a stumbling block. There are countless ways you can easily (and painlessly) raise the funds you need. Consider the following ideas:
- Collect an offering to cover expenses.
- Charge a per-family registration fee. Give discounts to families who volunteer for your staff.
- Invite congregation members to “sponsor” children by contributing a per-child amount. (See the “Registration” section on pages 115-128 for more specifics on this idea.)
- Hold a creative fundraiser! Send a “tax collector” (a hammy volunteer in costume) through the congregation, demanding a marketplace tax. Or have your church staff practice their pottery skills by making clay bowls. Set out the bowls, and have church members “vote” for their favorite design by adding coins each Sunday. You’ll have plenty of additional funds in no time!
Start collecting decorations
Round up things like baskets, burlap sacks, colorful pieces of fabric, terra-cotta pottery, rugs, and blankets. Let members of your congregation know what you’re looking for so they can keep their eyes and ears open for potential Bible-times decorations. |
