I was reading the message boards on the kidology site and came across this post from Todd McKeever. He posed a great question that I believe is worth all of our time. What does creative outreach look like?
Here is what he had to say:
I have been wondering for some time and will throw this out to everyone here as well.
I ran a blog post a while back asking for creative outreach ideas that people have done, and I was amazed at the few that I heard about. I have also asked here on the site before about the same topic and still very amazed by the little response. I also serve as a contributing editor for K magazine and oversee the “Bridge Builders” part of the magazine where I get to work with churches all over the world and I am sad to say, it appears that outreaches may be decreasing some.
That is why I am writing here again as well. Do you feel that outreaches are decreasing? Maybe everyone just does a yearly VBS, Halloween alternative, 4th of July or Camps.
Are these the only venues (important non the less)that your church chooses to do outreaches? Do you do other ideas? If so what? If not, why?
we’re in the midst of a mind shift within our church. a few years ago we reshaped ‘Mission’ trips and created local events called ‘Micro-Missions’. the point is to create opportunities within the community where people can roll up their sleeves and serve their neighbors. this seems to be the most effective outreach so far. primarily b/c in the midst of meeting a ‘felt need’ relationships are established and fostered. people that receive the help are drawn into a church body then we have the opportunity to really set them on a path of life-change. this has been a morphing process over the past two years learning how to incorporate the whole family into the event. we’ve found some micro-missions are great for kids to engage in with their parents while others aren’t as well suited. either way… it’s not an annual deal but small events that hit throughout the year in various parts of the community.