The church has a phenomenal opportunity to combat one of the greatest epidemics of our lifetime: loneliness. Recent research indicates being lonely has been found to have the same public health effect as smoking 15 cigarettes per day and impacts at least half of all US adults. That is a staggering statistic!
The Church carries the greatest message of hope and healing that the whole world needs. The Gospel transforms, saves, heals, and redeems. But it doesn't stop there.. we also carry the antidote to loneliness. Godly community changes lives!
It's no secret that being a part of a deeply connected community enriches life and combats feelings of loneliness. But intentional community building also leaves a lasting impact by helping people deepen their faith and grow in their walk with the Lord.
This ultimate guide offers you creative ideas, insights, and practical advise to bring your church community building to the next level.
If you are on church staff and feel there isn't a sense of community and trust amongst your team members, start there! Before all the community building initiatives for church members, begin with the leadership. This will help cultivate a culture that values community from the top down.
If you feel your church staff have already adopted a strong community culture and you are on the hunt for ways to integrate it into the larger church congregation, this next section is for you!
To create events that engage the congregation, spark excitement, and are aligned with your church's overall mission and vision, follow these steps.
There are fun church events for every age group! Below we will outline some different activities and events that cater to different age groups, but there are countless ways you can achieve this! Feel free to get creative. The goals is to create engaging and inclusive events that cater to the diverse needs of your congregation.
From children and youth to adults and seniors, there’s something for everyone to enjoy from your church event.
There are so many fun ways to create meaningful, age appropriate events for the young people in your church. These moments present the opportunity to impart valuable lessons in an interactive, engaging way! Some popular event ideas for the youngsters in your church might include:
Christian parents are always looking for opportunities to plug their kids into a life-giving after school activities.
If your church has the capacity to host events late afternoon/early evening during the week, these can be great options that offer a variety of exciting and educational experiences and also help them connect with other kids their age.
For the families who have limited free time and are looking for the supportive community that your church offers, perhaps consider offering events open to the whole family!
These events are great for the whole family, and give everyone a chance to connect with others their age. This can also be easier on new people who don't know the church very well yet and would feel most comfortable attending events all together.
These events can include:
Events like this that are centered around the whole family promote a sense of unity and belonging among all members. There is something beautiful about hosting events that bring members of all ages together!
While cost is often something that holds churches back from prioritizing community building events, it doesn't need to! Remember, strong community building can start small.
Here are some fun, low cost ways to facilitate connection within your congregation:
Events like this make it easy to provide a secure experience for new members who are seeking community and hope to meet more people at church.
Who can forget the most wonderful time of the year? Christmas time is the perfect opportunity to host an event at your church. Here are some ideas to incorporate into your next Christmas party:
These events provide ample opportunities for fun community building for the whole family.
For parents and other church members who are looking to grow in their faith, understanding of the Word, and friendship with other believers, prioritize events that allow space to address more complex topics. These events might include, but are not limited to:
Organizing engaging events like these help people connect with God, grow in their faith, gain helpful resources, and ultimately strengthen their sense of community.
Another incredible way to foster community is to organize community outreach events. Service projects bring the church body together and serve as a blessing to your local community!
These can look like:
Fellowship events are all about bringing church members together. It doesn't have to be "churchy", just a fun excuse to gather together and grow in stronger relationship. Here are some ideas:
By participating in these events, church members, along with other community members, can experience the joy of belonging to a supportive community, where they can find comfort, guidance and as secure experience in times of need.
Some key things to keep in mind while you plan community building events for your church:
So, whether you’re organizing a small gathering or a large-scale community event, these tips will help you create a memorable and impactful experience for everyone involved.
Before you decide what kind of event you want to do, consider your church's larger mission and goals. How can you create an event that is aligned? Does it support the overall objectives of the church? Begin with the church's vision in mind and create a focused plan that will effectively measure the success of the event and guide the entirety of your planning process.
Assembling a dedicated event team is key to successfully executing any event. For smaller events you can likely do it yourself or with a small team. However, for bigger events, additional support will make planning substantially easier.
Should you have a bigger team, clear delegation will empower your team to do things efficiently and help ensure a well produced event!
A strong team should consist of individuals with various skills and roles, such as:
By assembling a diverse and talented team, you can ensure that all aspects of the event are properly managed and that your event runs smoothly from start to finish!
Having someone dedicated to managing and overseeing logistics will make event planning breeze. This person will be involved in creating a timeline, managing a budget, and making sure speakers are booked (should you be doing a workshop or an event of the like).
Some events will require booking a venue, catering, equipment rentals, paid advertising, and media coverage (like a photographer). If you are not outsourcing these and just using internal teams (church media crew for photos), then the person responsible for logistics will be responsible to communicate with these teams directly.
One benefit of having a person responsible for these details is you can create a comprehensive budget and make sure all necessary expenses are covered and resources are stewarded well.
TUVU is building the largest online community for people who care about faith, family and values.
Up until now, church’s have sent their congregation to traditional social media platforms to keep in touch, stay up to date on upcoming events and stay connected with fellow church members.
The problem with these platforms is they are riddled with inappropriate content because they aren’t built with wholesome community in mind.
TUVU is an incredible resource for church’s looking for new technological solutions to build and sustain church community. It allows you to share photos, video and text, private message, and connect with friends without any invasive ads, data mining, or algorithms.
Digital community could be your missing piece. TUVU enables you to create dynamic and interactive experiences to engage your congregation and extend the reach of your events beyond the physical walls of your church.
While traditional social media platforms only show your posts to a small percentage of your followers (unless you pay for extra visibility), TUVU's chronological feed, ad free platform ensures 100% of your followers see 100% of your posts. This means you can promote any upcoming church event without any hassle and headache.
Digital promotion is a great way to raise awareness of your church events and encourage members to invite friends and family to attend. By crafting engaging posts, posting captivating visuals, and sharing event details across various platforms, you can effectively spread the word about your event and generate excitement among your congregation.
Another great way to utilize social media and TUVU to spread awareness about upcoming events is to encourage church members to share it on their personal profiles as well! This will support your promotional efforts and amplify your reach.
Go back to your original goals for the event. Was it to get more people in the door and grow your church community? Was your primary goal to provide resources and foster a deeper sense of community amongst already existent church members? Whatever your goals were, go back and assess if you were able to accomplish what you set out to.
You can evaluate the success your church events by gathering feedback from attendees and your team to measuring impact. Use these insights to identify areas of improvement, gauge success, and inform your future event planning!
This step is crucial because as your reflect back on your event and consider all the feedback provided, your events will continue to grow in impact.
To pinpoint areas for improvement and evaluating overall success of your event, here are some important things to consider:
Your desired goals, and the nature of the event will determine what kind of impact you look for. Generally, you can measure impact by overall enthusiasm and engagement. But for events like community outreach for example, you can examine impact by number of people reached, and number of people to receive prayer, ministry, or service in some way.
People may be willing to tell you what they think or feel about the event, but returning attendance says the most! Beyond gathering feedback, you will know your event was a success if previous attendees come to your next event.
Leveraging the insights obtained from evaluating your event will help you refine and plan even better events in the future. This will strengthen your community building efforts!
Church events play an integral role in growing a sense of community amongst church members. They foster fellowship and facilitate relationships that support spiritual growth. By planning engaging events, considering all ages, utilizing the latest technology, and evaluating the success of your events, you can create meaningful and impactful experiences for your congregation. So get inspired, start planning, and watch your church community flourish!
Church events are a great way to combat loneliness by bringing people together and helping people make connections with one another in the congregation. They provide an opportunity to socialize, build relationships, and welcome newcomers!
Seasonal specific events are always a hit! Kids love participating in Vacation Bible School, Easter egg hunts and Christmas plays for example. Between big holidays, you can offer family movie nights, sports days, and arts and crafts workshops!
TUVU will help connect your church community, and offer an easy way to promote events and share photos and videos from recent gatherings.
.png){kind=logo}
