3 Summer Ministry Ideas for Your Church

I’m a parent of five kids.

Through this pandemic, I’ve been around my kids A LOT.

I’m looking forward to them having interactions with…other people.

I have a feeling there are other parents out there feeling the same way.

Also, to be real, with church online, my kids haven’t been receiving the same level of spiritual input as before the pandemic.

Not because my church’s online children’s ministry content is bad, but rather because our family hasn’t been as consistent as we’d like to be and we’re missing a lot of in-person interactions with spiritual mentors.   

If you combine that with the fact I live in the north with long and cold winters…I am really looking forward to summer.

With vaccines and warmer weather, I’m hopeful there will be more social opportunities this summer for my family and myself.

And, I don’t think I’m alone in this.  

Here are my questions for you:

• What’s your church’s plan for the summer?
• How will you engage and serve families who will be looking for social and spiritual opportunities for their kids?
• And, what about the adults in your congregation who can’t wait to connect with other humans in person?

I think this summer is a huge opportunity, and I’d hate for you to miss it.

The people of your church and your community will be hungry for in-person social interactions.  

I have a few thoughts to help you prepare.

Re-Engage Your Core

While my church has seen decent online engagement, we also know engagement with our church has not been as strong as when we were fully meeting in-person.

While we’re not certain what our congregation size is right now, we do know many of our people are less engaged with our church than before the pandemic.  

This summer is an opportunity for all of us to re-engage our core church family before heading into what I believe will be a critical fall ministry season.

How will you re-engage your people this summer?

Regardless of what happens with the pandemic, there will likely be greater opportunities for in-person interactions because we’ll be able to meet outside.

Whether that’s meeting one-on-one with volunteers on a patio, an outdoor worship gathering, or small group picnics, I believe it will be important to provide opportunities for people to re-engage.

Connect With Outsiders

One of the blessings of this difficult season is how it’s moved our church toward serving the community even more.

With the absence of in-person worship services, many of our volunteers moved to volunteering in the community.

An impact of COVID I didn’t see coming is how our community service ministry would be stronger than ever before. 

This has created an opportunity for our church, and possibly yours as well.

Non-believers rarely just walk into church, even if invited.

However, they often will participate in a serving opportunity outside the walls of a church building.  

This summer, we have opportunities to serve the community AND engage non-believers by inviting them to participate.

Serve Families

Back to where I started.

I truly believe if you offer backyard bible studies, day camps, or something similar this summer, you’ll likely have record attendance.

Many parents could use a break from their kids, and many are looking for ways to help their kids grow spiritually.

You have an opportunity this summer to serve families well by providing solid and easy-to-engage opportunities for kids.  

You may already have great ideas planned but if you’re looking for some help, here are a few organizations I feel do this well:

1. Orange VBS 
2. Springhill Day Camps
3. Lifeway Backyard Bible Clubs
   
   

Wrap Up

We’d love to hear other ideas of how you plan to engage people this summer.

Please share your ideas in the comments below.

This summer could be a huge opportunity for ministry. Let’s make it happen!