Ever since the coming of Jesus, and even before Him, the community has been a focal point of Christianity. Without others to worship with or to grow in your faith with, pursuing Christianity can be difficult if you’re by yourself.
Churches fill this need quite well by offering a communal place to practice their faith in the company of other believers. Churches can also provide help and resources to their surrounding communities when there are needs that would otherwise go without attention, such as feeding the homeless or providing a gathering place for local support groups.
But what if your church is struggling to grow its community? It can be hard to keep the doors open without a body of members to support the church both with their time and their money. If your church is willing to think outside the box though, there are a few ways you can use your time and resources to bring new members to the church without the traditional door-knocking or putting ads in the Sunday paper.
1. Weekly Dinner
This is something my own church has done in the past that has been quite successful when done correctly. A weekly dinner is a great way for a church to bring in people from all walks of life that are looking for an affordable home-cooked meal and fellowship to go with it.
If your church is blessed with a well-equipped kitchen and a sizable area to seat people, you can offer a weekly dinner for $5 a person. This can appeal to both young families who would like a night they don’t have to cook but don’t have to break the bank either or local community members that may struggle to find an affordable and nutritional meal on their own.
Pro tip: If you schedule this around another weekly church event such as choir practice or church council meetings, you’re more likely to get members to join for dinner that is involved in those other events/activities.
2. Youth Ministry
This one may seem obvious, but what’s less obvious is how to do this right. The best youth ministries are going to have one underlying thing that makes or breaks the ministry, and that would be opportunities for the youth to get involved.
This admittedly can be a broad marching order for church leaders, and in a way, it’s meant to be. Not every church is going to be able to provide the same opportunities for their youth to find their place in the church community.
Some churches may focus on youth groups, where the youth get together once a week for fellowship and worship. This can involve fun games like kickball (a personal favorite) or indoor activities like sardines (a fun alternative to traditional hide and seek). Other churches may try to involve their youth in some capacity in worship every week.
This could be a youth band, a puppet ministry, or simply reading scripture. One way my home church stood out compared to other churches in Waldorf, Maryland is by starting a puppet ministry that allowed the kids involved to be creative and have ownership over their own ministry.
No matter what your church chooses to focus on, it’s important to commit to your decision and commit to your youth. It’s easy for church leaders to focus on other ministries or the business of the church while neglecting the youth in the church, and this will not go unnoticed by the youth. A youth group will only be successful when the adults and the leadership in the church value and prioritize the youth whenever possible.
3. Vacation Bible School
This is another one that many churches are aware of and likely even implement, but many fail to truly capitalize on this unique opportunity. Vacation Bible School (VBS) is a great way to get local youth who otherwise may not be members of a church to hear the word of God. It’s also a great way to get the attention of young parents who may consider themselves to be Christian, but don’t belong to any specific church.
There may be many reasons for these parents to not be current members of a church, but them signing their kid up for VBS, indicates that they may be open to finding a new church home if they felt it was the right fit for them.
Your first and most obvious step for convincing these parents to bring their family to your church regularly is hosting an incredible VBS for their child. If the parents pick up their child and they keep hearing how awesome VBS was that day, that’s a great first impression. But that’s all that is, the first impression.
Here’s where many churches get stuck. They had an awesome VBS week, and the kids loved it, but then they didn’t see that family again until the next year. Why is that? I’d argue that it’s because you didn’t convince the decision-maker of the family (the parents) on why they should come to your church.
But how would you do that? One way would be to host a ministry built around young families and send the child home from VBS with a flyer advertising that ministry. But what ministry would that be?
4. Moms Ministry
You may have found some good ways to get the local kids interested in your church through a youth ministry or VBS, but now it’s time to convince their parents. The way to do this is by offering a ministry that caters to them. For example, being a mother can be a difficult job with lots of responsibilities and little to no time off.
If your church can offer free child care and fellowship opportunities for local moms to simply enjoy each other’s company over a nice meal they don’t have to cook, no “come check out our church” ad is going to compare.
But what if your church doesn’t have the resources to start this ministry all on your own? This is where community partnerships can solve a lot of potential challenges. Many areas have local mom organizations already such as Moms Offering Moms Support (MOMS).
These local organizations often need places to meet that are free or inexpensive. Your church can consider reaching out to a local MOMS Club and offer your space and/or free child care to help solve a need for them and give them a reason to consider becoming a member of your church.
5. Dads Ministry
In addition to a Moms ministry, developing a ministry for Dads, or men in general is a great opportunity as well. This may look different than what you would do to attract moms or other women, but it can still be just as fruitful for bringing in new members to your church.
Traditional ministries to attract dads would be things like United Methodist Men if you are in a United Methodist church or maybe an annual cookout if you’re more focused on big events over regular meetings. These ministries can serve the need for a men’s ministry in your church, but they can help to get creative.
One way you can be creative when developing a ministry to get dads and other men to engage more with your church is by offering fellowship activities centered around common interests. This can be Sunday gatherings after service to watch whatever game is on that day, or it could be something as simple as an evening outing to everyone’s favorite restaurant.
In addition to those fellowship opportunities, I’m also a big believer in small groups for men. Modern culture puts certain expectations on men to behave in a certain way, especially in a group of other men. This can make it hard to open up about deeper issues the men in your church may be struggling with.
Small groups with a dedicated “pastoral leader” can be a great way to have meaningful conversations where men can feel more comfortable talking through anything they would otherwise keep to themselves such as marital struggles or challenges at work.
How To Get Started
Some of the above information may be old news to you, but some of it may have you thinking about these ministry ideas from new perspectives. The best way to figure out how to use the above ideas in your church community is to discuss further with the leadership in your church and get on the same page on what your church is looking to accomplish.
If you’re looking to bring new people to your church, you may implement the above ideas differently than if you want to focus more on maintaining your current membership numbers and serving your existing community. No matter what your church’s priorities are, the above information should hopefully open your mind to new ideas for keeping your church community strong for years to come.
About The Author
David Graham is a digital marketing specialist with a focus on search engine optimization, and is the founder of Digital Carpenter, a digital marketing company focused on providing web design and SEO services to churches and nonprofits. David enjoys using his skills to help churches and nonprofits reach more people in their communities.
