While this is certainly not an exhaustive list of questions, it does cover a wide range of aspects relating to the children’s check-in process. Once the answers to these questions are determined, the attention of the church should then turn to a few key components that will ultimately impact the entire check-in process.

The children’s check-in process should be completely underwritten by the church’s defined security guidelines. In other words, the check-in process needs to include security measures that prohibit access to children by any unauthorized person. The most common mechanism to address this concern is some type of “claim receipt” that serves as an identifier for the parent or guardian when it is time to pick up the child from their class, but, the question here becomes how the church supports the process of issuing these receipts. While most would agree that security is the most important component of the process, it also makes sense that this process should be facilitated as efficiently as possible. It is here the church must determine how the security component of the process will effectively coincide with the type of check-in system being used by the church – automated versus manual.

In an ideal environment, the check-in process will be very convenient for the church members, as well as those first-time visitors. In today’s fast-paced world, even the church has been forced to find ways to “keep up” with the time-sensitive expectations of its congregation. And, while there is always an assortment of things that have the potential to negatively impact a family’s worship experience, doesn’t it make sense that the children’s check-in process not be one of them? Of course, the time it takes to check-in will differ based on whether or not it is done in a volunteer-assisted environment versus a self-service one, but in either case, the focus here should be to add a level of transparent convenience so that the children can be dropped-off and picked-up in rapid fashion.

Finally, there should also be a strategic component of the check-in process. Measurement is a key aspect of improving anything. What does this look like with respect to the children’s check-in process? It starts with the fact that the church is capturing attendance data for both the children, as well as those serving in the children’s ministry. In turn, this data can then be used to keep church staff and key volunteers aware of who is regularly attending versus who has dropped off, as well as who are those that are completely new to the ministry. And, as you may expect, this type of information proves to be very important when the church needs to make vital decisions about expanding its staff, volunteers or even its children’s facilities.

Regardless of the type of check-in process, all of the above components are important, as well as the church’s ability to maintain the system and scale the process as the ministry continues to grow. How a church weighs the priority of these different components can help determine which solution on the market is the best fit.

Jeff Pelletier is vice president of sales and marketing at Fellowship Technologies, a Web-based, church management software provider enabling churches and ministries to effectively and efficiently care for their people. He’s also a senior lay leader at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. Visit www.fellowshiptech.com or reach him at jpelletier@fellowshiptech.com.