Summer is time to get your church beyond the walls and into the community. Your members may respond well to basic projects that show the love of Jesus Christ to neighbors. As we pray for missions and give through the Cooperative Program, we must also live on mission and challenge our churches to serve as missionaries in the communities in which they live. As risks regarding the pandemic continue to diminish, now may be the right time for your church to refocus on reaching out with the Gospel and serving others. Here are three suggestions for summer mission projects.
Organize By Age Group
One church in the BMBA divides the congregation into age groupings for summer mission efforts as a way to reach their community. For example, preschool-aged children do their mission projects on the church campus—adopting it as their mission field. The preschoolers create and distribute encouragement cards and give gifts to church leaders, guests, and attendees. Visitors always smile when a preschooler hands them a Sunday worship guide!
Elementary-aged children and their parents meet for Summer community mission projects; sometimes, this involves singing at a skilled nursing facility, doing yard work for the elderly, and other safe, well-planned mission experiences. Teenagers go on student mission trips planned to give them hands-on ministry opportunities to share the Gospel. Adults have mission trips planned out of state and around the world.
Get Your Small Groups Involved
Discipleship groups, Sunday school classes, and small groups are the church’s lifeblood. Church leaders can mobilize these smaller building blocks of the church for ministry projects. Why wouldn’t each small group want to do something missions-related this Summer? Here in Birmingham, we have many opportunities to serve. In the BMBA Partner Center, we have at least twelve different ministries represented. Collecting needed items, volunteering, contributing, serving, and encouraging in your community is also a great idea. This Summer, several small groups will volunteer for special events and support drives for various needs at Alabama Baptist Children’s Home. Others will serve at Jimmie Hale Mission, The Foundry, and Lovelady Center. I know of a few who will work to improve the grounds of their local schools and parks. In all of these activities, church members must be ready to share the Gospel or present their salvation testimony.
Engage the Entire Congregation
Few of our BMBA congregations have paid staff serving as mission pastors. Nevertheless, senior pastors, church leaders, and volunteers carry the banner for practical mission work locally, regionally, and internationally. For example, some of our churches plan to engage in Birmingham’s upcoming World Games 2022. Many international athletes, spectators, dignitaries, and other groups will converge on the Magic City. As a result, Christ-followers will have the opportunity to engage the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of these efforts will be spearheaded by volunteers, local church WMU leaders, and church staff. May God bless their efforts!
Does your church have a mission strategy for this Summer? I encourage you to take advantage of the disruptions in schedules that often come with the Summer months and challenge your church to reach beyond the walls and into the community. As a pastor, it was my favorite time to mobilize Gospel-centered service projects that remind the community that we care. I will leave you with a list of Summer community service project ideas to spark your creativity.
Host a movie night for your community.
Organize a fun run.
Develop a well-planned, safe parents’ night out event.
Offer a car wash. Do it free or have people contribute to missions.
Recruit and screen volunteers to serve in your existing ministries.
Expand your greeting ministry.
Collect approved items for the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home or volunteer for an event/fundraiser.
Serve meals at a mission.
Sign up to serve at a Birmingham region school through the BMBA’s Discovery Clubs.
Get trained for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.
Volunteer to do a project at the local school or park.
Serve the elderly or homebound in your church and community.