30 Outreach Ideas for Small Churches

The thirty ideas

Practical help. 1. Community car care. 2. Home repair team. 3. Community tool library. 4. Free laundry day. 5. Budget coaching. 6. Tax preparation help. 7. Job search and resume center.

Family-oriented. 8. Parents’ night out. 9. Mom’s morning out. 10. Dad’s garage night. 11. Grandparent support network. 12. Foster and adoptive family support.

Youth and student. 13. Homework club. 14. Teen trade skills program. 15. Gaming and mentorship nights. 16. Youth apprenticeship network.

Gathering spaces. 17. Community coffeehouse. 18. Board game café night. 19. Community dinner table. 20. Hobby clubs.

Care and recovery. 21. Grief support group. 22. Caregiver support group. 23. Recovery ministry. 24. Mental health discussion groups, led by qualified people.

Community development. 25. Community garden. 26. Neighborhood beautification team. 27. Local school partnership. 28. English conversation classes.

Hospitality. 29. Dinner church or neighborhood table groups. 30. Community welcome ministry for new residents.

Four filters

1. Volunteer load. If our six most committed people showed up consistently, could they run this?
2. Cost. Can we run it on a few hundred dollars a month? Ongoing costs matter more than startup costs.
3. Repeatability. What brings someone back the second and third time? If the only answer is novelty, it won’t last.
4. Relational depth. Could a church volunteer and an unchurched participant become real friends here? If not, you’re building an audience, not a community.

Score your top three

Score each filter 1 (weak) to 3 (strong).

Before you pick

Whose passion is already in the room? Who in our town has a need we keep hearing about? Where do those two overlap?

The ideas come from Turn the Key, which walks through choosing, starting, funding, and growing an outreach ministry in a small church. About the book.