Why put on a FAMILY EXPERIENCE at your church?

We just finished year two of our Family Experience (cross street LIVE) at Grace Community. While we were setting the CSL stage up Saturday one of our team asked if we would keep doing CSL next year? In my mind it was never a question but for this leader on our team we are in totally uncharted waters for our church and our city. The family experience idea is still a new thing in our Clarksville culture. We are the only church in town asking kids and parents to set aside some time each month to come for an event together. (we soon hope to have another church doing a family experience in Clarksville!!!) The question got me thinking why we do this to begin with. What is the real benefit of taking the time and resources to make a family experience happen? I can think of several...

• a FX (family experience) connects "Sunday morning" to Mom and Dad! > every month we are able to take what we talk about with kids on Sunday mornings and share the big idea with the family. At home parents are able to use the virtue, talk about the virtue, laugh about the virtue together. What happens at home is more important than what happens in our one hour at church...why not help the home connect with that one hour.
• a FX helps the church DO SOMETHING AMAZING for the family! > once a month our entire church invests in the family. Our stage is up in the main theater, actors prepare, worship leaders learn songs, our staff gears up for kids and parents! The FX helps us do more than talk about family...we get to engage family! Come one time to Cross Street Live and you will see we do everything possible to help kids and parents have an amazing hour together!
• a FX sets parents up to INFLUENCE at home > parents need a rally cry...they need a big idea they can focus on. This month we helped parents focus on PATIENCE...who doesn't need help with that. When we help parents come together to learn / think / sing / dance with their kids we set them up to influence at home.
• a FX gives families a great environment to invite other families to join > we want kids to have a next level experience they can bring friends too! We want the same thing for parents. We want to create a "you have to experience this" kind of feel where families want to invite other families. Our hope is that empowering families will become viral and families all over our community will take a step forward in investing in the lives of their kids!