Now that we are completely electronic, what do we do when the lights go out? This is a question that every church that has a weekend attendance over 500 needs to think about. Do you cancel church? I personally think an acoustic set with the band would be a nice change. What to do about check-in? YIKES! The answer to this question can be deceptively simple even though we can’t print labels and access rosters.
You will definitely need a backup plan. The most important thing is the children’s safety. With that being your number one priority, then check-in and pick-up become the main hurdles. The check-in process can be accomplished by pulling the blank name tags out of the check-in station printers and tearing them apart. You will then need some receipt tags similar to what is used for a coat check. Clear Media, our recommended solution provider, can help you with this. I asked them to provide a quote for tags that can be used for this purpose. The tags are 1 1/8 inch in diameter with unique numbers on each tag. They look very similar to poker chips (or so I have heard). Here is the information they provided:
1,000 tags @ .52 per tag
2,500 tags @ .47 per tag
5,000 tags @ .39 per tag
The prices for these tags are a bit high and Clear Media offers less expensive tags that could be used. Other churches that I have worked with keep their old check-in labels as a backup. If they were using nametags that had removable tags on them I always recommend that they keep those as a backup option. You can find a similar solution here.
Many large churches that I have worked with in the past use the poker chip approach mentioned above. The number on the tag is written on the nametag prior to the children arriving. The parents will then write a child’s name on a nametag and then keep the token. The token will be turned in when the child is picked up at the classroom. Manual rosters will have to be kept in each classroom which can then be posted to FellowshipOne the following week. Sounds simple enough, right? Now all you have to do is figure out what to do with the kids for an hour in the dark!
