Are you looking for an innovative approach to reaching more students and allowing for ONLINE registrations? There is a great way to do this for any Released Time program.
Kingdom Harvest Ministries in Celina, Ohio, has pioneered an excellent approach — explained at our recent conference by one of the KHM leaders, Ken Meyer. A busy, full time worship pastor, who is making room in his life for the ministry of Released Time classes, Ken said “it [online registration] saves our organization a lot of time”.
So, how does it work?
Step 1 – Find an online registration software to use. Kingdom Harvest uses Planning Center.
For a small monthly fee, they are able to accept registrations and online donations, schedule volunteers and even track attendance and print name tags. The cost depends on the services chosen. There is no software to download, so it can be accessed from any device.
Step 2 – Create a post on your program Facebook page about Released Time Bible education classes for your program.
For a fee based on selections made, Facebook will drop it into the news feed of the zip codes specified and at the time requested. Parents and grandparents who see the post, click on it and are taken to a registration form to enroll their student for Released Time classes. A response email goes back to the parent/grandparent confirming their registration and the registration information goes to the program organizer, in this case, Ken and his team.
You can use Planning Center (or other similar) software to generate attendance records, provide opportunities for people to donate toward the ministry online, and even schedule students for Released Time classes — you choose what your program would benefit from using most.
School Ministries Ohio Executive Director Jenni Miller said that online registration may become necessary for more RTBE programs: “As school districts decide to go paperless, this can create a new way for programs to sign up students.”
The process is simple for parents or grandparents – it only takes about 5 minutes or less. This is an innovative and time saving way to reach this online generation of families that need to hear about Jesus!