OUTREACH IDEAS: ESTABLISH A COMPASSION MINISTRY
- Deliver cookies to the incarcerated. Volunteers can make cookies and take them to the nearest correctional facility.
- 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/.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
OUTREACH IDEAS: OFFER EDUCATION
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Host a suicide awareness class. Invite local experts and counselors to explore misconceptions surrounding suicide. Make the workshop free and open to the public.
- 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.
- 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.
- Host self-defense classes. Local law enforcement agencies and other organizations often have low-cost classes. Offer to host them at your facilities.
OUTREACH IDEAS: START FAMILY-RELATED OUTREACH
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Provide babysitting. Give parents and caregivers the night off by offering free babysitting at your church once a month.
- Offer home devotional activities. Provide links to or printed devotional materials that families can do together.
OUTREACH IDEAS: REACH OUT TO KIDS/YOUTH/YOUNG ADULTS
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
