Summer presents new opportunities for your church to extend the gospel message to non-believers or other members of your community. That’s why churches dedicate this period in their calendar year to conducting “out-of-the-box” outreach activities. 

In fact, summer can be one of the best times to grow your church!

At the onset, the prospect of implementing outreach activities is exciting. One wild idea could spark an outpouring of discussions on the best summer outreach activities that the church can do. The next thing, you may find yourself already out there, heavily immersed with your church members and those you hope would join your congregation.

It’s easy to get lost in the myriad of available information about what your church can do this summer for your outreach ideas. You’ll always have to align with your church’s mission and see how you can move forward from there. 

Why Have Outreach Activities During Summer?

Shifting your full attention to growing your church during summer when, historically, church attendance may be down, makes a lot of sense.

Summer is that period when families go for a long weekend vacation, so they would most likely miss church service. In the words of most church leaders, it’s a “summer slump.”

Outreach activities offer a communal yet unconventional approach to serving the church and community. They may help your church avoid the “summer slump!” That’s because your church members have other activities to look forward to other than the usual Sunday routine.

Moreover, doing these acts of service is not just a linear model of giving. It’s a reciprocal cycle where each participating church member benefits through genuine service to other people. This is an excellent starting point to continue growing your church.

The point is not to have the most extravagant outreach activities during summer, however. You’re not competing with other churches; you’re reaching out to expand your church and reach within your community.

Five Summer Outreach Ideas  

1) Conduct ‘Talents and Treasures Workshops’

Every church member you have possesses a unique talent! 

Yes, your church may have already taken advantage of your members’ talents for service at church. In the process, they practice and hone their skills. In terms of developing more talents, the problem is that this custom seems to include only members who are more skilled and experienced in certain ‘talent circles.’ 

There’s a more appropriate schedule for you to work on your church members’ talents while not having to sacrifice the quality of any church service.

Summertime is the best time for your church to hold talents and treasures workshops. We’re not talking about practice for the following Sunday service. We’re referring to a series of training sessions that you can organize to coach members of varying levels of their skills to boost their confidence and improve their mastery.

Have your ministry leaders in singing, preaching, and guest servicing, for example, take on the roles of experts who will share their insights and talents. They may schedule daily lessons, workshops, and rehearsals, leading to a culminating and themed talent show. Families and friends will hop in to support each other during this scheduled event. 

Your church will benefit from this because you can scout and develop future ministry leaders. At the same time, your church members can use their talents for more outreach activities. 

2) Boost up your church community store

Instead of competing with thousands of garage sales in your church’s neighboring community, why not take this time to put up your church’s community store?

For one, garage sales take up a lot of legal work before you can even operate them. Plus, garage sales may lead to a pile of clutter if you don’t sell the items. You will also need volunteers to manage the sale. The time and resources you put up for a three-day church garage sale may not translate into profit.

A church community store can flip the typical script of focusing on what the church can gain into what the church can give. Here’s how you can do it:

• Ask church members to bring to church what they think the community needs. These can range from easy-to-cook food, clothes, fruits and vegetables, and hardware materials.
• Find a temporary space on your church’s premises. A meeting hall, basement or even a retractable tent outside would work well.
• Organize what your church members brought into sections like a department store. Then, put up signs near your church or post them on social media and website to announce that you have a community store.

While that may be your usual garage sale setup, here’s the catch, you have to make sure that you make this very clear with everyone involved—take as you need.

No money. No coupons. No strings attached. Make everything for free! 

Anyone outside the church membership can take as much as they need from the available items. This doesn’t convert your church into a ‘charity center.’ What this teaches your church is to continue giving without expecting anything.

As soon as more people come to your community store, this provides you the room to reach out to them and empathize with people who need the church’s help. Who knows? Their next visit to you could be for a Sunday service.

3) Do a ‘Mission Weekend Community Drive’

Your church brings to the table a whole host of talents and potential. You have church members who are professionals, skilled workers, and entrepreneurs. Surely, they have been blessed in their respective line of work. 

Summer can also be an excellent opportunity for these professionals to bless the church and the community through their professions. 

It’s most likely that you might have doctors, teachers, bankers, nurses, graphic artists, and marketers in your congregation. They’re experts, and it could be a worthwhile activity for them to help the sick, the hungry, and the bankrupt.

With this in mind, your church can adopt a neighboring community and schedule your community drive in the local park. Then, you can organize ‘mini-centers’ to accommodate some specific needs like:

• Health Center- Give free consultations to those who need medical attention. Have church members who are medical practitioners be involved with the process. If possible, doctors can provide over-the-counter medicines. 

• Smile Center- If you have church members who are dentists, summer could also be another opportunity for them to bring smiles to the community. Aside from conducting dental checkups, they can perform basic procedures like tooth extraction and tooth filling.

• Wealth Center- This may involve partnering with other institutions. However, your church members who work at the bank or financial investment centers can be the most appropriate people to advise people about complex financial issues like mortgages, business loans, and life insurance. 

The ideas are not limited to those mini-drives. You can extend your efforts to provide free lunch, make digital artwork, and refer people to the right institutions for help. 

To succeed in this endeavor, your church must prepare ahead. It must involve all church members in designing and implementing your mission drive. Again, because it’s a collective effort, you may see your church grow.

4) Take your Weekend Worship Service to the Mountains

Wouldn’t it be cool to have your praise and worship service on a mountain?

This may sound like a crazy idea to conduct a worship service outside the church’s confines. But the truth is you can do it with careful planning and deliberation.

Most families would go to the mountains during summer as part of their vacation. Of course, the mountains are some of the best places to find the cool mountain breeze after a long and sweltering day.

Your church may also benefit from an overnight respite in the mountains!

You can find one mountain resort that can accommodate the entire church or schedule the members’ participation by batching them on separate weekends. You can do a group study of the bible by the campfire and even encourage silent meditation in some of the best nearby spots.

Keep in mind that this weekend is not a typical vacation but one that should be spent in communion with God through nature. 

To add more value to the experience, consider focusing on an activity that helps the environment your church came to enjoy. For instance, you can coordinate with concerned agencies to arrange tree planting activities or clean-up drives for polluted areas. 

This is another unique outreach idea you can capitalize on for your church as you serve while having fun.

5) Level up your Vacation Bible School (VBS)

No summer is complete without VBS. 

Churches all over the country seize the opportunity when students are not at school. Parents can send their children to a VBS where they can learn about God through a relaxed and fun environment. Many parents look forward to this time because they can have their children be taught Christian values early.

It’s refreshing to see children enjoy arts and crafts, sing Christian rhymes, and do other sports activities. Recently, churches have brought their VBS to a whole new level by incorporating new pedagogical techniques, using themed curricula, and adding multimedia elements to their learning materials.

Because online technology influences children, churches must embrace technology to improve the children's overall experience in the VBS. You can discover more about how to take your VBS to a whole new level by checking out how Tithely makes registration easy for your VBS.

Over to You  

Summer is an eventful time for the church. That’s why it’s essential to plan and be intentional with your activities. If you want your members to be eager for what’s in store for them, put in the effort to take your outreach ideas from routine to extraordinary. 

Outreach activities are one of the best ways to sustain and grow your church in quantity and quality. The list above contains some proven yet unconventional ways to continue attracting your church members.

So start planning your summer outreach activities now. There’s so much you can do for your church during this time to see it grow!