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11 Fresh Ideas To Build Connections In Your Small Town
Enjoy 11 ideas for rural and small-town ministry! Keep a presence and impact your community through school, neighborhood, and farm life events.
- Do you live in a rural area?
- Can you count the number of stop signs in your town on one hand?
- Do you find that typical “outreach events” don’t work in your setting?
Rural churches are a little different than other small churches. Homes can be miles away from the church and miles apart from each other! There might not be a bustling town center or a local neighborhood park for outreach event ideas you find on Pinterest.
Although it might not be typical, your unique rural setting offers unique opportunities.
Unique Opportunities For Rural Churches
Small Church Ministry is all about finding creative solutions to problems. Let me assure you, just because your small church is located in a rural area, it does not mean that you can’t have a BIG impact on those around you! As you embrace the blessings of small-town life, approach outreach in a way that fits the style and rhythm of your location –– a location that God has called you to and will equip you to minister to!
We’re excited to give you 11 creative ways to reach out and make connections in your small town. Remember that ‘outreach’ does not have to be about bringing the people into your church building, although sometimes that’s part of it. Outreach is about connecting with the people in your area. We are there to represent Christ, to demonstrate His love, and to introduce our community, big or small, to the family of God!
All of us here at Small Church Ministry love using the Ministry Funnel as a model of reaching out. To read more about it, click here: The Ministry Funnel Concept.
11 Creative Ways To Reach Out To Your Small Town
Connecting with your local school is a fantastic way to make your small church presence known in the community. There are a number of ways to bless the teachers and students of your school. Here are just a few suggestions:
1. Celebrate The Beginning Of A New School Year
- Surround the school with your church family on the day before school. Have a time of praying over the students and teachers for the new year.
- Get the bakers of your church busy and deliver some the first morning. Bring the muffins to the teachers’ lounge and include a wonderful note with a special prayer.
- Contact the school before the year begins to see if the teachers and/or principal have a wish list of items not in the budget. Find out how your small church might be able to help.
2. Volunteer And Make Personal Connections
Many schools need volunteers to help in classrooms, such as reading helpers, doing prep work for arts or crafts, helping in the office, etc. This is an excellent way to get to know your local teachers and school families personally!!
3. Provide Dinner For Teachers On Parent Teacher Conference Night
Offer to provide dinner for the teachers who stay late for parent-teacher conference days. A nice hot meal lovingly prepared and set up in the teachers’ room is a wonderful and delicious expression of God’s love!
4. Host A Parents/Kids’ Night Out
This is a wonderful way to encourage the families in your community! Have a free babysitting drop-off night. Plan far enough in advance for families in rural areas to arrange schedules and transportation.
Here’s an article written by our friend, Susan Overholt, with a step-by-step way to plan a successful event: The Perfect Timeline To Host A Kids’ Night Out.
Be The ‘Hub’ Of Your Community
If your area doesn’t have a ‘central’ gathering place for town events, consider volunteering your small church property and facility to be that place.
1. Open Door Hospitality
Open your building to host clubs, groups, and meetings who don’t have a space to meet. A great way to connect in your community!
2. Deer Check-In Station
If folks in your area are hunting enthusiasts, offer to be a local deer check-in station for the Department of Fish & Wildlife. Ask volunteers from your church to be there to serve hot coffee, cocoa, and cookies throughout the day. For inspiration on decoration, check out these hunting event signs.
3. Sponsor A Neighborhood Yard Sale Event
In an area where there’s quite a distance between homes, having a community-wide yard sale is difficult at best. Most of your shoppers’ time is spent driving from house to house. What if your church used its property to host the yard sale and give all your neighbors and townspeople a spot to set up to sell their ‘treasures’ for free?
Here’s an article from our website that talks about how one church uses this event as one of their biggest connections to their community each year: Host A Community Yard Sale To Serve Your Neighbors.
Farm Life & Outdoor Life
If you live in a rural farming community, then celebrate that fact and work with what you know is relevant to the life of your farmers. Have fun with it!
1. Bless The Tractor Event
Many churches sponsor ‘Blessing’ days from pets to bikes, but what about a new twist for the farming community and ‘Bless the Tractor’? Encourage your local farmers before planting season to drive their tractors to church. Theme the whole service around the message of ‘planting seeds’ and having a successful harvest. Serve special snacks or even a hearty farmer’s breakfast to encourage fellowship and connection. Be sure to have a special time of prayer for the new year of planting and harvest, and of course, the blessing of the tractors and lots of pictures!
Try to connect with the local 4-H clubs, feed stores, or farm bureau to invite your community to participate.
Of course, as we all know, personal invitations are the best. Read about that here: Why Personal Invitations Work Better Than Bulletin Announcements.
If your area has great involvement in outdoor sports, hunting, fishing, or birding, celebrate those things and sponsor some helpful events at your small church. We already mentioned being a deer check-in station above. Below are a few more options that could connect you with some of your townspeople of all ages!
2. Fishing Derby
Find a great and accessible fishing spot and host a children’s Fishing Derby in the spring! Have gear available for those who need it, bait, and prizes for a host of different categories. Make sure to have a small takeaway gift for all your contestants. Try this idea: a burlap goody bag filled with gummy worms!!
If your event budget allows, have a grand prize giveaway where everyone’s name gets put in a ‘boot’ and is chosen at the end of the day! Perhaps a fishing tackle box stocked with goodies and a new pole! Provide some simple snacks and beverages for everyone in the family.
For an added fun touch, why not set up a photo-taking station and encourage some of your creative people in the church to set up a booth for selfies?!
3. Hunters Breakfast
On the day before or the day of a hunting season, host a ‘drop in’ breakfast for hunters in your community. Have a team ready and at the grill to offer hot food, coffee, and grab & go creations for those hungry hunters. Have a ‘Bragging Poster’ where folks can stop and record their trophy of the day! Always fun to spur on conversations. Try these mini hunting goodie bags for those that need to grab and go!
4. Wild Game Dinner Night
Sponsor a wild game dinner. Get donations from the hunters in your church or friends for the meat. You can also order wild games and exotic offerings from many companies on the internet. This event is an excellent way for men to connect with other men around the dinner table and invite new people into your church! Try these elk & deer party balloons to mark your driveway or entrance door.
The wild game dinner is #5 in Popular Men’s Events For Small Churches. This post contains 24 more ideas for great events.
Develop Your Reputation As A Serving Church
It’s very important to know what’s happening in your town. In a rural setting, there are traditions and events that everyone loves to participate in. Find out what they are in your small town and get involved.
If there’s a local fair or festival, see if your church can have a booth to give away refreshments, do a children’s craft, or set up a photo booth if it’s seasonally themed.
Let The Community See Your Church Serving
Organize members of your small church to volunteer to help plan or participate in these kinds of events. It’s a wonderful way for your church to be connected with your community and for them to get to know your church without the pressure of being there for a formal service!
Volunteer at the local PTA, town council committees, or agricultural groups. Be informed of what’s happening in your local area and get involved!
This is precisely the kind of ‘outreach’ that a small church can do well in a rural setting.
So go ahead and have a BIG impact on your small town!!
Collaborator Thank You:
I’d like to thank community member Dee Ann Schnautz for her input in this article. Dee Ann is a pastor’s wife and a farmer’s wife and lives in a rural farming community in Boyd, Illinois. If you’d like to read more of Dee Ann’s articles about small-town church ministry, you can find the links here:
