Try This: 5 Summer Outreach Ideas

School’s winding down and the temps are heating up. Use the summer months to connect with your community in and on the water near you.

In Zebulon, N.C., Wakefield Central Baptist uses their bus to bring children living in public or low-income housing to the Whitley Park Pool where church volunteers provide swimming lessons, game time and a quick Bible study.
—WakefieldCentralBaptist.org

For more than 30 years, Trinity Lutheran Church in Waupaca, Wis., has hosted a “Chapel on the Lakes” session. From June to August, the church rents a 60-foot boat called Chief Waupaca for a special Wednesday evening service, drawing residents and vacationers alike for a time of worship on the area’s lakes.
—TLCWaupaca.org

In Southern California, Malibu Presbyterian hosts “Surf’s Up”—an unofficial surf camp for teens. They learn how to master the waves but also make friends and come to know what a Christian community can look like.
—MalibuPres.org

Calvary Baptist Church in Brewerton, N.Y., hosts a free fishing seminar for anglers of all ages. The Saturday event includes demonstrations by the state Department of Environmental Conservation: live fish, bait demonstrations, crafts and games, and a spooling station to reline fishing reels.
—CBCBrewerton.org

Water skiing, barefooting, wakeboarding … During the summer months, teens in LaCrosse, Wis., can be part of BWST—the Bethany Water Ski Team, hosted by Bethany Evangelical Free Church. Students meet every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for time behind the boat, hanging out, lunch and Bible study. The ministry attracts both unchurched and churched teens from the area.
—BFreeChurch.org

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