The church was never meant to be contained within four walls. The Great Commission is not an invitation to make your Sunday service excellent and wait for people to find you. It is a call to go. To the people in your community, the people in your city, and the people who will never show up on their own.
The community that you are in should feel your presence.
The good news is that you don’t have to have a large budget or a complex strategy to get started. You just have to take a step. Here are three questions that you can ask yourself to take a step to serve your community this month.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Mark 12:31 NIV
What Are the Felt, Tangible Needs That My Community Is Facing?
One of the simplest and most tangible ways your church can serve your community is through a supply drive. Whether it is school supplies before the fall semester, food and hygiene items for a local shelter, winter coats before the cold sets in, or holiday gifts for families in need, a supply drive mobilizes your entire congregation around a single, concrete act of generosity that helps provide the needs that your community is facing.
Supply drives also give every person in your church a way to participate. Not everyone can volunteer their time on a Saturday or volunteer on a Sunday, but almost everyone can bring a box of cereal, a bag of school supplies, or a new pair of gloves. A supply drive lowers the barrier to generosity and creates a culture of giving and serving that extends far beyond the drive itself.
- School supply drive — collect backpacks, pencils, notebooks, and other essentials for kids in underserved schools before the fall semester
- Food and hygiene drive — partner with a local food bank or shelter to collect non-perishable food items and hygiene products
- Winter coat drive — collect gently used or new coats for families who need them before winter hits
- Holiday gift drive — adopt local families in need and collect gifts for kids who might not otherwise receive them
How Can I Put Together a Community Serve Day?
Getting your entire church to serve together is special. When your congregation serves side by side, they build relationships with each other. They experience the joy that comes with working towards a cause that is bigger than themselves. And they begin to believe that they have a part to play in bettering their community.
A community serve day does not have to be complicated. Put a date on the calendar. Pick a project. Show up. Paint a fence, clean up a park, serve lunch at a shelter, help a local nonprofit move supplies. The work itself matters, but the posture matters even more: your church showing up in your city with no agenda other than to love your neighbors.
- Partner with a local nonprofit and offer your congregation as volunteers for a day
- Adopt a school and spend a Saturday cleaning up the campus, painting, or landscaping before the school year starts
- Serve at a shelter or food bank — most local organizations welcome groups and can put a crowd of volunteers to great use
- Neighborhood cleanup — grab gloves and trash bags and spend a few hours making your neighborhood visibly better
- Host a free community meal — set up tables in your parking lot and serve a free lunch to anyone who shows up
When people in your community see your church showing up consistently, not just once but again and again, they begin to see your church as one that actually cares about the community. That reputation is one of the most powerful evangelism tools you have.
What Ways Can I Uplift and Encourage My Community?
Not every act of service looks like a project. Sometimes the most powerful thing your church can do for your community is simply show up and encourage the people in your community.
Think about the teachers, first responders, healthcare workers, local business owners, and nonprofit leaders in your church, and in your community. These are people who pour themselves out every single day, often without recognition or appreciation. Your church has the opportunity to change that.
- Appreciation meals for first responders — bring lunch or coffee to your local fire station, police department, or hospital staff
- Teacher appreciation — stock a teacher’s lounge at a local school with snacks, notes of encouragement, and supplies
- Write notes of encouragement — organize your small groups or kids ministry to write handwritten notes for people serving in your community
- Spotlight local heroes — use your social media and stage time to highlight the people in your community who are making a difference
- Show up to community events — send your team to city council meetings, school board meetings, and neighborhood gatherings just to listen and be present
Encouragement costs almost nothing. But for someone who has been pouring themselves out for others, a simple “thank you” from their local church can be life giving. It also opens doors for relationships that no program or event ever could.
Download the Free Local Missions Resources
Learn how to strategically select and partner with local organizations to extend the impact of your church in your community. All free on Open Network.
Download Local Missions Resources →What’s one thing you can do this week?
- Download the Local Missions Resources at open.life.church and share them with your team.
- Pick one of the three ideas above and put a date on the calendar this month.
- Identify one local organization in your community your church could partner with and reach out to them this week.
- Bring your team together and ask: what is one need in our community that our church is uniquely positioned to meet?
Your community needs your church. Not a perfect church, just a church that is passionate for its community that shows up consistently, with love and generosity and the name of Jesus on your lips.
We can do infinitely more together than we can apart. Let’s reach people together.
Download the free Local Missions Resources at open.life.church →
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