Fall may be the best time of the year for community activities. With the schools back in session and the summer heat backing off, organizations around your community are looking for ways to connect with your neighbors.
It’s also the perfect time for your church to get more involved in your neighborhood activities. Community involvement shows your neighbors that your church cares about what happens in the local area. While you shouldn’t do it just to get people to show up at church next Sunday, stronger community engagement can lead to higher attendance.
As you head into this fall, here are 11 ideas of how you can get more deeply involved in your community.
1) Get Involved in Your School
In many communities around the country, this may be the best opportunity for you to get involved. Almost every public school needs help—from resources to volunteers to mentorships and support services. Call your local principal and offer to support them in their work. Start with their needs, not your own.
2) Participate in Community Festivals
If your church has a community festival, there are often plenty of opportunities to get involved. What you do largely depends upon the type of festival your community hosts. You may be able to open a food booth or offer volunteer support. Start small and build over several years, and you may be able to expand your opportunities in future years.
3) Volunteer with Local Nonprofits
Across the board, nonprofits need help. They typically rely on volunteers in the community. Pick a nonprofit (or two) in your community whose mission connects with issues that matter to your church. Offer to provide a few hours of volunteer support consistent with the interests and talents of people in your church. Even a few hours a month of volunteer help can make a big difference.
4) Organize and Participate in Community Cleanup Days
Cleanup days provide your church family with a powerful way to demonstrate your care for the community. Reach out to a few other local churches and pick a day when the most people can participate. Encourage people outside the church to pitch in and help. Consider getting matching t-shirts for the activity to make clear the collective action taking place to beautify the community.
5) Support Local Civic Clubs
Civic clubs often work behind the scenes in communities. Ask some of the local clubs near you how you can help them with one of their projects. If you have some members of your church who are involved in one of the groups, consider starting with that group.
6) Host Public Workshops
You likely have quite a bit of expertise within your church. You have church members with considerable experience in healthcare, personal finance, parenting, marriage, etc. Use online resources like MissionInsite to find some of the biggest needs in your community. Match those needs with your church’s expertise and host a workshop to help people in those areas.
7) Volunteer in Community Centers
Not all communities have active community centers, but if you do, it’s a great opportunity to be involved. Community centers often have everything from children’s sports to English classes to holiday events. Ask your local center how you can help. Many of them are working overtime, trying to provide a robust program for the next season. You may find opportunities to teach classes, mentor students, or serve behind the scenes.
8) Host a community art show
At one time, the church was central to the art world. Too often in recent years, churches have seemed disconnected from society’s creators. Build a relationship with your local artists by providing a venue for them to show their work. If you have some artists in your congregations, start the effort with them and ask them to invite friends they have in the art community.
9) Organize Regular Worship Services at a Nearby Nursing Home
Most of your local nursing home residents can’t attend worship services at churches like yours. Find a volunteer who feels comfortable teaching and another one who doesn’t mind leading worship. Get some additional volunteers who can spend time with residents before and after the service. Your worship services don’t need to be (nor should they be) complicated. Even if you can’t do it every week, try to develop a consistent rhythm for worship services so the nursing home staff and residents can depend upon you.
10) Partner with Your Local Library
Libraries provide many important services to your community. Not only do they loan books, but they host a variety of community events, offer tutoring, and provide access to valuable resources like computers and the Internet. Ask your local library how you can help them, either by providing volunteers, resources, or sponsoring an activity.
11) Serve at a Local Health Fair
If your community has a local health fair, you may have unique ways your church can plug in. Healthcare professionals in your church could set up a booth at the fair. You might also be able to host a “spiritual health” booth and offer opportunities to help people with issues such as grief, loneliness, and mental health. Some health fairs may also be open to allowing you to create a prayer booth.
Level Up Your Fall Programming with a Retreat
Fall isn’t just a time to engage with the outside community; it’s also a great time to build bonds inside of your church with a retreat. Our new free guide, Creating Impactful Fall Retreats for Your Church, will help you create an engaging fall retreat for any purpose or any group this fall. Besides a step-by-step plan to develop your retreat, it also includes a variety of templates and worksheets to help you put what you’re learning into practice.
Download the guide today to get started!
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