by Katy Dunigan, Guest Writer

Whether it’s a special holiday service or an average Sunday in September, many families attend church together as a unit—perhaps dressed a little nicer than they do on a regular weekday. This creates a wonderful opportunity to capture a meaningful and fun family photo.

Church staff can use this time as an effective way to collect photos of church members when putting together a church directory or a church photo album, but beyond the practical uses, a photo booth can create a powerful ministry opportunity as well.

How many members will share their family photos on social media pages, perhaps send it as their Christmas card, or place it in their office at work? Maybe many! Each photo’s post or placement opens the door to conversations with peers, colleagues and friends about your church, the member’s faith and family, and Christ’s grace and forgiveness.

We might think of it as just a photo opportunity, but it could very well create a witness opportunity as well!

Thinking about putting together a photo booth at your church? Go for it!

Here are some basic How To Photo Booth Tips and Suggestions to get you started.

Form a Volunteer Team

Photo booths offer a great opportunity to involve several members in a fun and worthwhile project.  Make sure you have these team members to help you:

• a creative
• an organizer
• a photographer
• a processor

Creative Team Member Tasks

Remind this team member that Photo Booths don’t have to be complicated. They can be as simple as a well-placed chair, some flowers, a pretty window, or maybe an attractive outdoor spot. Simply create a nice setting that lets your members capture a special moment, share an important message, or tell a story.

Organizer Team Member Tasks

In the days or weeks prior to the photo booth event, send out notices (in both print and digital formats) to your members, inviting them to participate! Remind them to come early or stay late for a fun photo opportunity!

In most cases, people want to participate and are just waiting for an invitation. Be sure you are clear about the times the booth will be available, suggestions on what to wear, and if they can bring their own props.

Photographer Team Member Tasks

You have choices on how you want to get the photographs, here are the options this team member should have in place:

• You might prefer that all photos be taken by a photographer, which is fine to do.
• Some participants might prefer to take their own photos because selfies create fun and original pictures, but not everyone carries smartphones with good cameras in them.
• Make sure a volunteer photographer with a camera is ready when needed if you primarily do selfies.

Processor Team Member Tasks

To prevent confusion, be sure to put a process in place. The process needs to communicate:

• Why you are offering a church photo booth
• Where the line starts at the photo booth
• How members can get copies of the photos, if they don’t take selfies.
• Suggestions for posting the pictures on social media & share where the photo was taken. This is a great way to highlight your church and church community.

Have Fun

Remember, you’re building community among your members and making great memories too, be sure to have fun doing both. All of your volunteers are responsible for ensuring this is a fun event, so encourage them to keep a happy, welcoming, relaxed attitude.

If done correctly, your photo booth will be a big hit and your event a big success.

Make a photo booth available as often as you like. Use those opportunities to update photos in your church member directory, but remember to change the themes to fit the seasons and always remember to keep it functional and fun!

For additional photo booth ideas and information, please visit our Pinterest site:

https://www.pinterest.com/CTRNONLINE/church-directory-photo-booth/

Katy Dunigan is the Marketing Coordinator for onlinechurchdirectory.com and serves on several United Methodist leaderships teams in the Southwest Indiana District.  She is also an active member of the #chsocm community on Twitter and Facebook and is a contributing author for several church communication websites, newsletters and books.