Encourage every class, study, and team in the congregation to support a mission project financially or through volunteering * Invite youth to support Nothing but Nets to fight malaria through personal pledges, a basketball tournament, or money-raising services * Invite guest speakers from mission and service agencies to speak to classes or groups * Collect materials and Red Cross flood buckets to help families with clean-up after disasters * Have a monthly Mission Moment in worship, inviting a layperson involved in a service ministry to share experiences and invite others * Hold an Organ Donor Sunday, with donor cards for people to sign * Offer a mission fair with tables, displays, and representatives in hallways to invite support and volunteer help * Gather canned goods, supplemented with perishables, for Thanksgiving baskets, doubling the number next year and the year after that * Sponsor collection drives for good quality used clothing – coats, mittens, blankets – to give away through a service agency * Pray for others in mission regularly * Tell about your denomination’s work around the world in creative ways * Sponsor three or four community programs not related to the church that make a difference in the lives of people, offering funding, resources, labor, or prayers * Provide and announce excellent childcare for service activities * Take lunch or snacks to a fire department or police station near the church or in a troubled neighborhood. Show support when they suffer loss or injury on their force * Offer monthly or weekly prayer and devotion services for the staff at a nearby nursing home * Invite the senior citizens at a retirement community to help in a service project * Have service or mission events where you intentionally invite people beyond the congregation to join in * Invite the parents of children in your preschool to be a part of a special project * Create care bags to donate to children’s service or to the police to comfort children after a tragedy * Host a luggage drive to collect suitcases for children in foster care * Invite an expert on environment and energy issues to help the church and households to save on energy. Lead the community in environmental care and use any savings to fund a special project * Involve children in creating and planning a mission activity * Celebrate the results of mission and service work in worship * Recycle, Reuse, and Renew church resources * Work with another church on their service project
Riskier, More Challenging Ideas
Host Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, or other twelve-step programs in your facility * Work with a new or struggling church to host a successful VBS * Hold a church-wide community Work Day to serve in various ways using the many skills – home and auto repair, teaching, medical, legal, writing, etc. – of your congregation * Adopt a family in your area who needs help * Plan and prepare for how to respond to a disaster, such as a hurricane or flooding. How can your church help the most? * Partner with a local women’s shelter. Find church members who could help with job skills, advice on resumes, etc. * Offer college students a quiet study hall – with home-cooked food – during finals * Join with other churches to build a Habitat for Humanity home * Form a volunteer construction team to build wheelchair ramps for homes of people who can’t afford them * Form a Volunteers-in-Mission Team to help with recovery and clean-up after a tornado * Make youth hands-on mission projects a regular part of the summer schedule * Host a community “missions tour” to help people learn about community agencies and the difference they make
Big, Bold, Audacious, Scary Ideas
Become a partner/covenant congregation with a congregation in Africa, Asia, Europe, or Latin America. Share prayers, visits, resources, and work * Tithe the construction costs of your new building to build a church overseas or in Latin America * Form, train, and support an international Volunteers-in-Mission Team to help with medical, educational, spiritual, or construction needs * Form and train a First Responders team to work with state and ecumenical agencies to help with immediate relief after disasters * Meet the criteria for your facility to become an emergency shelter * Become a host facility for visiting mission/service teams from other places to work in your community * Offer worship services or DISCIPLE Bible Study in a prison, jail, or juvenile detention center * Say “yes” to the next bold, good idea to help people!
