Reaching Out in Word and Deed

New Life Ministries is happy to share a variety of ideas that congregations have found helpful in their ministry of evangelism and outreach. We welcome your suggestion of an idea you've tried that has been especially helpful to your ministry. Send a brief description of your idea to our WebServant. More details are available for some ideas through the highlighted links.

Free Hot Chocolate
Use Friday nights (or any other time) to take a cup of hot chocolate in Jesus' name to places in your community where people gather - such as the laundromat (originally in Leadership Journal, January 2002).

Send us your ideas for reaching people with the good news of saving faith in Jesus Christ through words of faith and deeds of mercy! Include a web link where available. And check below regularly for the addition of detailed information on previously listed ideas.

"Adopt-a-Highway"
Build favorable name recognition for your congregation participating in your state or community's "Adopt-a-Highway" program. The church promises to clean up at least two miles of state road every three months. By doing so, many state departments of transportation/highways will post a sign on the highway stating that your congregation is part of the "Adopt-a-Highway" program. Also a great servant evangelism project.

Backyard Bible School
Take Bible school to the kids. Offer a Bible school type program at the homes of persons in your congregation. It could be daily for a week or one day a week for four-five weeks.

Balloon Launch
Fill biodegradable balloons with helium and attach information about your church and release them during a special ceremony. This is also an excellent way to celebrate Easter.

Birth Announcement Signs
Place an "It's a Boy" or "It's a Girl" sign in the lawn of members at the time of the birth of their baby. Include on the sign a subheading that gives visibility to your congregation, such as: "A part of a growing family worshipping at (your church name)."

Breakfast for Homeless Persons
Many churches and social service agencies offer "Meals on Wheels" at noon or an evening "soup kitchen." But few communities offer breakfast for the homeless or others among "the least of these." For one church in Elgin, Illinois, this was an introduction to a broader ministry to people on the streets.

Building Relationships with Another Language Group
Begin a class or small group or a one-to-one language training program as an outreach ministry. This is an especially significant way for congregations who wish to teach persons not proficient in the predominant language or to start a worship service for another language group. It's also a time for teaching and learning each other's language and culture. Members volunteer their time for a couple hours each week to study language and build strong relationships.

Bus Ministry
Invite and bring children from our local communities to our Sunday School program.

Candy Cane Giveaway
Find a public place to give away small candy canes at Christmas time. Attach a card with the story of the candy cane on one side and information about your Christmas services on the other side.

Chaplains
Do you have other places in your community (besides military or sports teams) where pastors or retired pastors can serve as chaplains to a group of people or a place? Think about your area. Do you have an airport, a business, a hospital, a fire department, a coffee shop or even a Laundromat? All offer opportunities to meet unchurched people in your community and learn their needs.

Choice Books Distribution
Provide subsidy or capital funds to assist in the employment of a person from your congregations or community who would (a) service Choice Books displays in your community (supermarkets, drugstores, restaurants, etc.), and/or (b) present the Choice Books opportunity to retailers in your area. Option: Encourage groups or the congregation to become a Choice Books sponsor or co-sponsor of an area.

Church Brochure
Design (or have designed) a publicity brochure for your congregation. Organize it in such a way to "lift up" the ministries of your local church. Print plenty of the brochures and distribute them widely to your community/ministry area; provide copies to existing members, encouraging them to reach out to friends, relatives and acquaintances.

Coffee Break for Women
Coffee Break is a church-based, community-oriented small group Bible study strategy. It helps Christian women from the local church reach out to unchurched women by inviting them to participate in a weekly one-hour inductive Bible study. The primary goal of Coffee Break is to
help local churches bring women into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Parallel outreach Bible study programs are available in both Spanish (Sobremesa) and Korean, but are developed for both men and women.

"Coming Home for Christmas" Open House
Host a Christmas open house for your community during Advent. Demonstrate Christmas activities of yesteryears (making dried apples, cookie baking, candy making, quilting, etc.). Serve refreshments and give tours of displays set up throughout your church building.

Community Block Party/Christmas Festival
Hold an event open to the community. Offer games and activities for all ages, but especially for children. Especially be sure to offer food! Offer door prizes as a means for encouraging attendees to share their names and addresses. And don’t charge for anything—make this your gift to the community.

Community Prayer Walks
Organize a series of prayer walks on every street in your community. Encourage the participants to see these events as being times of both spiritual warfare and vision building.

Community Social Event
Reach out to your neighborhood by sponsoring an outside social event for the whole community. Invite folks from around your church building to be a part of this "get acquainted" event centered around food, fun and entertainment.

Community Visitations
Invite members of the congregation to participate in making door-to-door visitations of a designated area of your community.

Community Web Portal
Many communities (especially small towns and rural areas) do not have a web portal—a place where anyone can log on to find what businesses and social services are available or what is happening in the community. So consider putting up a page as a church or in cooperation with your community association of churches. In addition to featuring businesses and local news, the page should also include links to churches and to other sites where web surfers may find a relationship with Jesus and/or help in growing in their faith.

Direct-Mail Newspaper to Your Community
Reach out to your community (ministry area) through direct mail using the Together newspaper or similar product. This 8-page information piece includes general human interest articles from a Christian perspective, along with space for your congregation's own personal message (dates and time of services, special ministries etc.) It is also a great way to build name recognition and a positive image in your community.

Drop-in Center for Unchurched Youth
Develop a youth center where unchurched youth from your community can hang out and be involved in constructive activities that will create new horizons for them physically, academically, socially, and spiritually.

Evangelistic Bible Study
Develop one or more Bible studies in homes of your congregation that are specifically designed to be an outreach to non-Christians and unchurched persons.

Friday Night at the Movies
Sponsor a movie night for community children. Show Walt Disney films, provide simple refreshments (at a "simple" price) and radiate a mood of excitement and hospitality. Encourage church families and kids to attend as well. Note: Be sure you procure a video license prior to showing videos.

Hospitality Evangelism
Plan a special weekend night a week or two before Easter when you invite neighbors and friends into your home to view the "Jesus" video, called "the most biblically accurate film ever made on the life of Christ."

Imprinted Desk Calendar
Attractive desk calendars will uplift and encourage people in your community the whole year through. Order an adequate supply for others with whom your church might have some natural connections, like last year's visitors, etc. Includes photographs, slogans, scripture, and an imprint of your church's name and logo.

Latchkey Program/After-School Tutoring
Adopt a local school. Offer to assist with tutoring. Or offer after-school childcare for children in the community. Or offer a Pioneer Club/AWANA program one day a week.

"Let's Go to the Mall"
That's what many Americans do - go to the mall, the modern equivalent of the village green. Will they find a/the church there, in the middle of the marketplace? Probably not. Most churches base their outreach on the Field of Dreams concept: "if we build it [an actual building or a program], they will come." Jesus said, "Go!" Check out how one church has entered the marketplace through the Burlington Center Mall Ministry.
Submitted by Phil Olson, director of Network 9:35

Marriage Enrichment Night
Build relationships with unchurched couples in your community by hosting a Marriage Enrichment Night. Participants take a personality test ahead of time, and a certified facilitator scores the tests. On the night of the event, couples go through the test results to learn more about each other, as well as meet other couples in the area and find out more about your church (from Outreach, March/April 2004).

Meet Your Neighbor Night
Reach out to your neighborhood by holding a special "social night" for the whole community. Invite folks from around your church building to be a part of this "get acquainted" event. Provide a simple meal and a program consisting of singing and games for the children.

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers Program) and MOPPETTS (Pre-School Program)
Provide a ministry to mothers who choose to stay at home with their kids. MOPS is geared toward the moms and MOPPETTS is geared towards the kids. The MOPS program addresses topics of need related to parenting; the MOPPETTS program resembles "Bible school." More information is available from MOPS International.

Neighborhood Bicycle Repair Day
Set aside a special day each year to make simple repairs on the bicycles of community children. Encourage congregational members with repair skills to get involved. Hold the event on the church parking lot, advertise, and reach-out to the youth of your ministry area.

Newspaper Ads
Display a series of professionally produced newspaper ads in your local newspaper. "Let your light shine" through simple ads which catch people's attention along with allowing space for the name of your congregation and times of Sunday services.

Our Jerusalem
Conduct a six-eight week mailing campaign to friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors of people from your church. In each mailing, include a cover letter written by someone from your church along with a colorful brochure dealing with life issues. Follow up with a phone call and an introduction visit.

"Overlooking Jerusalem" (Matt. 9:36)
Following the pattern of Jesus, go among the crowds, imagine their outer and inner needs, and find yourself stirred with compassion. Visit public places, such as the mall, welfare center, airport, busy restaurant, and observe with the heart of Jesus.

Parent's Night Out
Set aside a certain Friday of each month to offer low-cost babysitting at the church from 7:00 until 10:00 p.m. This is an outreach to single parents or couples new to the community. Congregational visitor and member parents also appreciate it. Offer special fun and learning activities for the children.

Parking Lot Activities
The church parking lot, especially in urban areas, can be a center for recreation or used as a place for holding summer concerts. Consider how your lot could be used during the week as a place to reach out and learn to know the younger and older of your neighborhood.

Prayer Booth
Offer a prayer booth at a community fair or festival with a banner asking, "How can we pray for you?"
Idea developed by Kinney Cathcart, Fellowship Bible Church, Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

Praying for Military Service Persons
Offer to pray for persons serving in the military and their families.
Idea developed by Clair Knappenberger, Sarver (Pa.) Brethren Church.

Radio/Television Spots
Air on your local radio or television station or cable TV system a variety of "spots" which are thought-grabbers that invite people to consider the difference Christ and the church can make in their lives. Several spots are available that show that your neighbors will be welcome in a caring congregation. Tag line of local church.

Saturday Nights Alive
To involve persons who work Sundays or who prefer a different style of worship than your present worship service, add another worship service on Saturday (or a weekday) night. Try it as an experiment at first and continue if you find that it is meeting needs and effectively reaches more people.

Senior Citizens Club
Organize a "social club" for persons 55 years of age and older in your community/ministry area (and congregation). Provide senior citizens an opportunity for fellowship, spiritual growth and evangelistic outreach. Church Growth Inc. offers training materials for those interested in ministry with "seasoned saints."

Servant Evangelism Projects
These projects "show God's love in practical ways with no strings attached," softening the hearts of persons who may otherwise be very resistant to the good news of Jesus Christ.

"Share the Spirit" Card
Create an outreach identification card about your church that will advertise to the community just exactly who you are and what you have to offer.

Sponsor a "Needs of Youth" Forum for Your Community
Invite youth, parents, and community leaders to a special program looking at needs of youth in your community. Have a panel composed of at least two young people and two adults who make presentations about youth needs in the community, and then open the floor for questions and discussion. This positions your church as clearly concerned about the youth of the community, and ideas generated may cause your church to create new youth programs which reach young people and their families. A drop-in youth center, a drug education program, or a parent-teen workshop might result from concerns and ideas raised at the forum.

T-Shirt Visibility
Purchase printed T-shirts with a promotional slogan about Christian faith and/or your church, so that your members can wear them in their neighborhood and working places.

Vacation Bible School Outreach
Use your Vacation Bible School program to connect to unchurched families in your community. Advertise broadly and encourage church members, VBS teachers, and students to invite friends and acquaintances who don't have a church home.

Vision Statement
Create a vision statement that best describes what your congregation's focus is for carrying out it's mission.

Washing Feet
Some faith traditions practice the washing of feet in their churches. A way to show the love of Jesus to others is to wash feet in a public place, such as at the beach.
Idea developed by Evangel Christian Fellowship, San Jose, California, and reported in the October 2002 issue of sE-Mail.

Work Project
Conduct a work project for our members or attendees and invite unchurched friends to join in the project.

Yellow Pages Outreach
Raise the visibility of your congregation in the community by placing a Yellow Pages ad (or consider "upgrading" your ad if you already have one in place). People often let their "fingers do the walking" when they are first looking for a congregation to visit. Recognize this and place an attractive, attention-getting ad.

Reaching Out in Word and Deed

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