Try This!: 100 Outreach Ideas for the Post-Pandemic Church

We asked churches of all sizes from across the country to submit their best outreach ideas. Take a look at their suggestions—you may find a few (or more) new outreaches that your church can adopt.

START AT CHURCH 

1. Mobilize individuals to evangelize. Encourage people to pray for and share the gospel with just one person. Formalize it by having them write the name of their “one” on a wall or cross on your campus. Pair people up to pray for each other and hold each other accountable.
2. Create a walking labyrinth. You can make a walking labyrinth from a variety of materials, such as stone, grass or gravel. It generally is a winding path that makes its way in a circuitous way from the outside to the center. Whether simple or elaborate, a labyrinth provides a great opportunity for you to invite people onto your campus for some peace, quiet, solitude and a time to pray. 
3. Send direct mail. A basic postcard is still a great way to say hi to your neighbors, let them know you care and get your church’s name and info in their hands. Outreach Inc., the parent company of Outreach magazine, offers many options. Check out Outreach.com/Church-Postcards/.
4. Deliver treats to guests. Use the information provided on connection cards to have volunteers deliver cookies (pies or cupcakes work, too), no strings attached. 
5. Befriend a pastor of a different ethnicity. Build a relationship, learn from them and then commit to doing an upcoming event(s) together.
6. Make your space available. Local scout troops, sports teams, community education classes and other churches need a place to meet. Offer your campus or a part of it at no cost to organizations or ministries that need a venue. 
7. Take it on the road. Commit to doing your service at an outdoor location—like a local park—once or twice a year. There’s a good chance you’ll attract people not comfortable walking through church doors. 
8. Partner with an international church. Through Adventures in Missions’ Church-to-Church program (Adventures.org/ChurchToChurch), pair up with a congregation across the world. You may help plant another church, help with a specific project, offer financial and spiritual support, or all of the above.
9. Become a foster- and adoption-friendly church. Check out Project 1:27 (Project127.org), an organization helping churches and families foster and adopt kids in their own neighborhood.

GO IN THE COMMUNITY

10. Feed firefighters. Bring a grill-able dinner—burgers, steak, etc.—to your local fire department. Let them know in advance that you’re coming and that you’ll be grilling and serving them a meal simply to say thanks for the work they do. 
11. Wake up your bus drivers. Get up early to bring coffee to school bus drivers before they head out on their routes. 
12. Host a veterinary clinic. Work with Christian Veterinary Mission (CVM.org) to provide veterinary care in underserved areas. (See “Paws and Reflect” on Page 40.)
13. Hit downtown streets with coffee. Go early and choose a day that’s cold—you’ll be a crowd favorite among those on the go by passing out steaming cups of joe. 
14. Have a food truck fun day. Whether they serve barbecue, ice cream or tacos, food trucks will attract neighbors and give you a chance to introduce your church over good eats. 
15. Host a blood drive. Someone needs blood every two seconds. Give people a chance to make a difference and save lives in one shot. Learn more: RedCrossBlood.org
16. Organize a 5K. Designate a mapped-out 5K in your area, but also allow participants to run wherever they want to. Give people the option to do it virtually—you can still send out swag. Ask runners to post their times and pictures on social media. 
17. Host an outdoor movie night. Pick a family-friendly flick, then purchase the necessary movie license(s). Advertise on social media and throughout your community. Encourage members to bring lawn chairs and friends. Outreach Films (Outreach.com/films) offers licenses that allow you to view the film and use film artwork for promotion.
18. Serve as a “post office.” On your campus, set up mail lockers and/or boxes for people living on the streets. This provides them a safe place to store their mail, important documents and backpacks. 
19. Arrange swimming lessons. Provide transportation to bring children living in public or low-income housing to a nearby public pool. Have volunteers teach them how to swim. You provide all the necessary equipment (life jackets, foam boards, goggles), and give kids beach towels to keep. 
20. Give free fishing seminars. Partner with your state’s Department of Environmental Conservation or Department of Natural Resources to provide bait demonstrations, crafts, games and a spooling station to re-line fishing reels. Make it available to anglers of all ages.
21. Do a phone drive. Collect used phones, batteries and accessories. No More (NoMore.org/Hopeline) has partnered with Verizon to collect these items in any condition, from any provider. Donations are turned into financial support for victims of domestic violence. 
22. Host a bingo night. This is a great all-ages event for your youth ministry to take on. Consider giving prizes and using it as a fundraiser for a local nonprofit. 
23. Give gift cards to police for them to pass out. This improves police-community relations as well as the church’s relationship with the local police.
24. Distribute (free) tickets for big church events or services. Tickets help create demand. They also help manage the fire code. Eventbrite (Eventbrite.com) is an inexpensive and easy solution. Plus, having tickets drives decisions to attend.
25. Do the wash. Through LaundryLove.org, you can work with local laundromats to help wash the clothes of low-income or no-income people in your area—and build relationships in the process. 
26. Plant a community garden. Offer plots for free to refugee families, or plant and give away the harvest to those in need. Either way, you’ll connect with your community through fruits and vegetables.
27. Join the parade. Many communities have parades for holidays or local events. Sign up to participate. Design and decorate a float, walk in the parade, throw candy to participants or give away bottles of water.
28. Pick up trash. Divide volunteers into small groups and spread out across town with bags to pick up trash. Consider wearing T-shirts with your church’s name and logo to let your community know who you are and that you care for your neighborhood. 
29. Pay a debt. As a church, raise money to pay off someone’s debt—school lunch debts at nearby schools, medical debts for families or even fines at the local library. 
30. Establish a trained first-response team. This team can provide physical as well as emotional and spiritual help after a catastrophe in your area. 
31. Purchase gas for drivers. Give away gas cards at gas stations. Make sure the station knows what you are doing. 
32. Host a vehicle fair. Invite local law enforcement and community service providers to park a work vehicle in your lot for a couple hours one evening and invite families. Kids can take turns sitting in the vehicles and honking lots of horns.
33. Hit the trails with refreshments. Set up a tent along a popular hiking or biking path and pass out something to quench the thirst of those getting their exercise on. 
34. Give away bread. Partner with a local bakery or grocery store. Instead of them throwing away baked goods just past sell-by dates, offer to regularly pick up. Then deliver to homeless shelters or areas where many transients live.
    
35. Fund calling cards for troops. Collect gently used cell phones and give to CellPhonesForSoldiers.com, a nonprofit that recycles phones and uses the money to purchase prepaid international calling cards for service members overseas. 
36. Store medical equipment. From crutches to shower chairs, keep basic medical supplies on hand to loan out for free.
37. Host a job fair. Contact local businesses and ask for participation. Have tents and tables set up for interested businesses to share their information and applications. Advertise throughout your community. 
38. Make freezer meals. Come together in your church kitchen to make big batch meals that can be frozen. When pastors go on home visits to someone going through a hardship, they can take a meal with them.
39. Put on a pet show. Invite people to bring in their (well-behaved) pets for a casual pet show. Ask a local vet to talk about everything from grooming and vaccinations to how to approach new or stray dogs.
40. Give clothing to hospitals. Many patients are discharged in only scrubs because they don’t have clothes. Talk to your local hospital to see if you can provide clothes and shoes to those in need. 
41. Establish a blessing box. Much like free little libraries, build a blessing box for those in need. Keep it stocked with nonperishable food items, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items. Make sure to research the best area to build it.

ESTABLISH A COMPASSION MINISTRY

42. Deliver cookies to the incarcerated. Volunteers can make cookies and take them to the nearest correctional facility. 
43. Host a Refugee Sunday. Educate and mobilize your community to support the growing number of refugees around the world. For help and resources, go to WorldRelief.org/Refugee-Sunday/.
44. Start a One Church One Child program. The goal of National One Church One Child Inc. (NationalOCOC.org) is that every African American child be removed from foster care quickly and placed into permanent adoptive homes. 
45. Make hope kits. Some 3.8 million U.S. women are battling breast cancer or have finished treatment for breast cancer. You can offer support, encouragement and comfort making kits filled with socks, lip balm, tea, lotion, etc. Here’s how: NationalBreastCancer.org/Breast-Cancer-Support/Hope-Kit.
46. Fund a water well. It’s estimated that 1 in 3 people around the globe don’t have access to clean drinking water. Join with The Water Project (TheWaterProject.org). 
47. Build a house. Gather a group of volunteers and work through Habitat for Humanity (Habitat.org) to build or repair a house for someone in need of a stable, safe shelter. 
48. Offer a spa day for single moms. Set up stations on your campus for simple facials, chair massages and manicures. Ask local salons or beauty schools to participate. And most importantly, provide childcare.
49. Host a shoe party. Through Sole Hope (SoleHope.org/ShoeParty), order a party kit. Then, organize a bunch of people to cut and prep fabric that will be finished into shoes to help children live without jiggers, a parasite in the foot that can cause pain, itching and infection. 
50. Adopt a refugee family. Your church can help provide food, cover rent, teach English, show them how to use public transportation, help enroll their children in school and much more.

OFFER EDUCATION

51. Start Project POWER. Through six workshops, Project POWER 

(DiabetesLocal.org/Resource/American-Diabetes-Association-Project-Power) helps churches integrate diabetes awareness messages and teach healthy living tips. 

52. Start a financial planning class. Work through Dave Ramsey’s nine-week lesson plan (DaveRamsey.com) as one large group or several small groups. Offer free childcare.  
53. Fight human trafficking. Through A21 (A21.org), you can expand awareness among your community, and educate and empower people to prevent human trafficking from happening in the first place.
54. Lead an apologetics workshop(s). Empower and encourage people to share their faith by offering a class where people can learn more about common objections to Christianity and answers to tough questions, as well as have a chance to practice conversations about faith in a safe environment. 
55. Host a suicide awareness class. Invite local experts and counselors to explore misconceptions surrounding suicide. Make the workshop free and open to the public. 
56. Offer mental health education. Depression, anxiety and other mental health issues are on the rise, especially after COVID-19. Do some research into what your community is dealing with, and offer a workshop to the public staffed with local mental health professionals.
57. Create a lecture series. Many adults are interested in continuing education. Pull in experts from a variety of fields and offer a free lecture to the community every month.
58. Host self-defense classes. Local law enforcement agencies and other organizations often have low-cost classes. Offer to host them at your facilities. 

START FAMILY-RELATED OUTREACH

59. Set up a family-friendly scavenger hunt. Create a scavenger hunt throughout your neighborhood or city. Make the clues available via social media. The hunt can end at your church with a pizza party and prizes for the winners. 
60. Offer free photos. Set up an attractive backdrop and have a photographer ready to take family pictures after your service. You’ll score points doing this around Mother’s Day or Christmas. Ask for people’s email addresses and send the pics digitally. 
61. Fly kites. Choose a day for friends and family to fly their kites up to the highest heights. If you don’t have space on your campus, choose a nearby park. Consider prizes for the largest kite, the youngest flier, the longest flight, etc. 
62. Go to the movies. Check area theaters to see if sensory-friendly films are offered. If so, organize an event for families with autistic children—a movie followed by dinner or snacks at your church. Visit AMCTheatres.com/Programs/Sensory-Friendly-Films.
63. Provide babysitting. Give parents and caregivers the night off by offering free babysitting at your church once a month.
64. Offer home devotional activities. Provide links to or printed devotional materials that families can do together.

REACH OUT TO KIDS/YOUTH/YOUNG ADULTS

65. Help college students move in. Have volunteers on hand at your local college when students are moving in. Offer to carry boxes from cars and give out bottles of water.
66. Build a playground. If you don’t already have one, build a playground open to the community. Promote it as a place for families to connect. If you do have a playground, consider updating it and/or making it bigger.
67. Mobilize middle schoolers. Purchase lots of fleece, then invite tweens and their friends to make no-sew fleece blankets. Deliver to your nearest children’s hospital for kids going through various treatments. 
68. 68. Start a mentoring program. Choose a pairing that makes sense for your demographic—perhaps having high schoolers meet with elementary students or adults with low-income students.
69. Deliver pizza to the nearest college. Stack the boxes in dorm lounges or student hangouts. Stay and introduce yourself, and let them know where your church is in case they need anything in the future. 
70. Host a bike day. Tape off a course in your church’s parking lot, turn on some music and invite kids to bring their bikes to ride in a big, open, safe area—and have them ask their friends to come, too. Have bottled water available. You can also set up stations for kids to decorate their bikes with streamers, noisemakers, etc.
71. Partner with local schools. Be a part of The National Church Adopt-A-School Initiative (ChurchAdoptASchool.org) and let teachers, principals and local staff know you see their challenges and care. 
72. Give blankets to children in foster care. Many times kids moved from their homes do not take any personal items. Provide blankets and toys to your local child services department to distribute.
73. Build a bed. Too many kids don’t have a safe place to sleep. Partner with Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHPBeds.org), an organization dedicated to building, assembling and delivering bunk beds to children in need.

GO ONLINE

74. Launch a crowdfunding campaign. Bring lots of people together around one goal—a needy family, a shelter or ministry, a national cause—by combining their donations for a larger impact. Popular crowdfunding sites include GoFundMe.com, Kickstarter.com and Fundrazr.com. 
75. Use Facebook Live for storytelling. Invite volunteers to tell the story of how they got involved or livestream the testimony of someone who is going to be baptized. Stories from a variety of voices will provide value to your audience and can build a deeper connection with those on social media.
76. Explore outreach via Zoom. You most likely have been using Zoom or other meeting technologies for meetings, but consider using it for worship, discipleship, prayer and pastoral care.
77. Use TikTok. TikTok users spend an average of more than 850 minutes on the app each month. Build engagement with a video that reacts to someone else’s video or one with the sole purpose of making people smile.
78. Use Instagram stories question sticker. You can ask your community questions or answer their questions, demonstrating that you’re approachable and engaged. 

* Tell us what you want to learn next in small groups.
* What questions do you have about God?
* Give us your best relationship questions.
* Tell us your all-time favorite book.

79. Start a storytelling blog. You can archive, catalog and categorize your life-change stories. People can go back and see how God has worked in the history of the church.
80. Use Snapchat’s “My Story” function. It’s like a picture/video journal for the user and is great a way to share what your ministry is all about. You post everything you do; someone may find it interesting, see a short clip of a service and decide to check it out in person.   
81. Create a Spotify playlist. People can sample the music your church might play before they show up for a service. You can build a custom playlist with your current worship songs, and Spotify provides embed codes to put the player right onto your website. 
82. Add a story form to your website. Make it easy for people to share their story by clicking a button. These stories can often turn into great inspiration and encouragement for others if you share them in a video during church or on your website. Be sure to ask permission to share. 

CONNECT WITH SENIORS

83. Start a “pen pal” program. Pair youth and seniors to write, email or call one another. They can develop relationships and learn from one another. 
84. Help seniors fend off fraud. Host a class informing older adults of current fraud schemes, as well as ways to stay safe. Have numerous laptops available for demonstration. Leave plenty of time for questions. Check out Justice.gov/ElderJustice and AARP.org/AARP-Foundation/our-work/income/elderwatch/.
85. Start a Storied Lives program. In this program, local senior citizens write down their life story by partnering with youth. Teens get to hone their creativity and writing skills and the elderly enjoy the company as well as the honor of having their story told. The completed story is shared in a formal closing ceremony—at your church—with friends and family. Check out StoriedLivesProgram.org.
86. Adopt a local nursing home or assisted living facility. Volunteers can lead regular church services, help maintain grounds and landscaping, and decorate for the holidays. Children can perform concerts, while youth can visit monthly to play board and card games with residents. 

START NEW SMALL GROUPS AND CLUBS

87. Start a divorce recovery ministry. Support those going through divorce by offering and leading Divorce Care’s 13-week, video-based series (DivorceCare.org). You can also help kids navigate divorce in a similar format through Divorce Care for Kids (DC4K.org). 
88. Start an infertility support group. It’s estimated that 1 in 5 women are unable to get pregnant after trying for a year. Offer a safe space for couples that need support among others who understand. 
89. Start a weekly breakfast club for stay-at-home moms. Select a comfy location where moms can connect over coffee and pastries for an hour; provide childcare. The hour immediately following kid drop-off at local schools often works well. 
90. Create a LEGO Club. Invite kids and their friends to come to church one weeknight for an hour to learn more about the Bible by playing with LEGOs. You provide a snack and a Bible story. Then have kids recreate the story with LEGOs. Post pictures of the creations on Facebook to engage with parents and others. 
91. Start a small group for caregivers. More than 43 million people in the U.S. provide care to an adult with a disability or illness. They are likely tired and could use extra support and recognition. Use the 10-week curriculum The Heart of the Caregiver (TheHeartOfTheCaregiver.com). 
92. Start a running group. Running is easier when you have a friend to do it with. Have runners meet at your church weekly and run a different route each time.  
93. Start a grief support ministry. Help support those who have recently lost a loved one. Check out GriefShare’s 13-week curriculum (GriefShare.org). 
94. Start a book club. Meet monthly in person or online to discuss a book that does not necessarily need to be Christian or faith-based. Invite the community. The library is a great place to promote this club. 
95. Start a Moms in Prayer group. Mothers across the world gather in small groups to pray specifically for the schools, students and staff in their areas. Visit MomsInPrayer.org.
96. Start a ministry for motorcycle enthusiasts. Bikers can gather regularly at your church for fellowship, worship and a ride. For ideas: FellowshipRiders.org or BikersForChrist.org
97. Create a group for parents who have had a miscarriage. Moms and dads who lose a baby go through terrible pain. A support group with an experienced counselor on hand could help them.
98. Start a golf small group. For fans of the lifetime sport, creating a specific group just for them will be a hole in one. Golfers can play regularly at different courses in the area while also sharing a short devotion and prayer time. 
99. Challenge small groups to action. Encourage each small group to adopt a local nonprofit or ministry. Group members can serve with time and resources on a regular basis, and in the process, build new relationships. 
100. Launch a group for single parents whose kids have left home. Single parents often are lonely, and that feeling is heightened when their children leave home. While your church may not have many congregants in that situation, partner with other churches and open meetings to the public, and you will see the need is big.

Do you have outreach ideas you would like to share with other churches? Let us know at TellUs@outreachmagazine.com.

Heather Schnese is a contributing writer for Outreach magazine.