40+ Church Activity Ideas PLUS Practical Tips & Real-Life Examples
You don't have to reinvent the church activities wheel:: Brainstorming has its place, but take advantage of ready-made activities: customize them to your church’s unique needs and culture.
Strengthen connection across all ages: From kids to youth to families, these ideas are designed to bring people together in meaningful, lasting ways.
Focus on consistency over complexity: You don’t need fancy events — you need consistent, relational gatherings that help your community connect and grow over time.
Planning consistent, meaningful church activities for your church community isn’t always as simple as it sounds. You want to help people connect and grow—but the weekly demands can leave you short on time, energy, and fresh ideas.
- You run the same types of gatherings over and over because you’re too busy to brainstorm new ones.
- Your regulars are showing up, but newer folks aren’t plugging in the way you hoped.
- You spend more time managing logistics than actually connecting with people.
In my experience, these things happen when we’re trying to do ministry from scratch every week, instead of learning from what’s already working in other churches.
That’s why I’ve put together this list of simple, effective church activities to help strengthen your church community. With the right church management tools, it’s even easier to plan, communicate and follow through on (here’s to less stress for you and your team).
These activity ideas are easy to implement, designed to create real connection, and flexible enough to fit the culture of your church.
Top 10 Kids Activities
Creativity is definitely a major part of anything that has to do with kids. Games, object lessons, songs; those are a given, and not that hard to achieve with soooo many ideas available online.
Ariane Tilstra, Kids Church Director
Looking for simple AND fun ways to engage kids at church? Keep it fresh. Kids get bored (and so do leaders!). Children’s ministry can be fun — without overwhelming your leaders.
These 10 flexible activity ideas are fun, mostly low-prep, and great for building connection:
- Scavenger Hunt: Plan a fun scavenger hunt at a local park, or even inside your church building. Choose a theme, recruit some older youth to help, and buy some prizes.
- Outdoor Obstacle Course: If you have the outdoor space, creating an obstacle course is a great team-building activity for kids and their leaders. Otherwise, heading to a local park or field works too!
- Picnic in the Park: Organize a casual picnic at a local park with a playground with a focus on food and fun for the littles. It’s a relaxed way for people to connect and enjoy fellowship.
- Easter Egg Hunt: Host a community-wide Easter Egg Hunt in your gym, auditorium or backyard. It’s a great way to connect with families in the area just looking for ways to entertain their kids.
- Kids Swim: Rent a community pool, local swimming pond, or have it at someone’s house. While the kids play, parents can mingle.
- Splash Day: Spend the day at a nearby splash pad, beach, lake or pool. Minimal prep required, and ask everyone to bring a refreshing snack to share!
- Superhero Sunday: There’s nothing like getting to dress-up as your favourite superhero — and coming to church dressed that way! Get key kids ministry leaders and pastors dressed up, too.
- Nature Walk: How about a day exploring God’s creation? Take the kids on a nature walk at a nearby conservation area. Stop to reflect on how God created the world and enjoy His handiwork together.
- Bible Verse Relay Race: It’s easier than it sounds! Divide kids into teams and have them race to complete tasks related to a Bible verse (eg: finding letters in a word scramble, or matching images to verses). It’s fun, fast-paced, and hands-on with Scripture.
- Craft & Create Day: Perfect for fostering creativity and faith! Gather your crafty volunteers and setup various craft stations (eg: Bible story themed projects like Noah's Ark animal figures, maybe superhero stations!). Also a great event kids can invite their friends to.
When you create space for families to connect, grow, and serve together, it doesn’t just strengthen relationships — it helps kids experience the love of God in action.
As one children’s ministry director put it:
We're working on making sure that each family event is set up in a way that provides something for the whole family and helps foster community throughout our congregation and to the rest of our community as well. The church should be a place that fosters strong community and family relationships so that the kids have a safe and solid foundation where they can see God' love all around them and are encouraged to make their faith their own.
Ariane Tilstra, Kids Church Director in Brantford, ON, Canada
Top 10 Activities for Families in Your Church
Looking for simple ways to bring families together at church?
I’ve rounded up 10 church event ideas that are fun, low-prep, and perfect for building connections. Choose one or two to get started and add them to your Sunday church bulletin or welcome message so families can plan ahead:
- Family Prayer Walk: Pray for your city! Partner together families and small groups and send them out on routes to walk and pray together in their neighbourhoods and cities.
- Board Game Night Bash: Invite families to bring their favourite board games for an evening of friendly competition and connection. Offer snacks and mix up tables to encourage mingling.
- Church BBQ & Games: Fire up the grill and invite everyone to bring a side. Add lawn games and a bounce house to keep kids engaged.
- Who’s Coming to Dinner? Assign families to one another anonymously for dinner. The big reveal comes when they show up at their host’s door! Great for sparking new connections.
- Family Movie Night: Project a family-friendly film in the church, or even outside! Bring blankets, popcorn, and invite the neighborhood!
- Bake Sale for a Cause: Families bake together and sell their treats to raise money for missions or fundraise for a local cause that’s important to your congregation or community. (fundraising isn’t scary when done right)
- Bible Charades Night: Charades, anyone? Kids and adults alike will enjoy the laughs and learning that come with it!
- Build-a-Box Night: Gather supplies and pack care kits for shelters, overseas missions, or families in need. It’s hands-on, meaningful, and gives families a shared purpose.
- Family Talent Show: Let families sign up to share a talent — singing, jokes, skits, anything goes! It’s a great way to celebrate the talents and personalities within your church community.
- Family Small Groups: It can be hard for parents to make time for small groups or get babysitting — why not encourage a family group? Groups meet on an afternoon where the kids play while the parents do a small Bible study.
A part of building up the body of Christ in church involves helping families connect with other families. According to the Barna Research Group, fostering meaningful relationships is key to sustaining engagement in church.
Meaningful connections begin forming on Sunday mornings, but grow deeper with other church activities and events that happen throughout the week and month — like belonging to a small group, attending events, and serving together.
Barna found that churchgoers who attend small groups are 40% more likely than churchgoers who don’t to feel more connected and supported in the church community — and to better understand their God-given purpose.
CASE STUDY: Waterloo Regional Worship Night
The mission behind Waterloo Regional Worship (WRW) is to unite churches in the Waterloo region and bring people together in worship. If you’ve ever wanted to run a larger worship concert, this is a great example to emulate.
WRW started in 2002 when four worship leaders from different churches came together to share about worship in their church, support one another, and pray for one another.
Now WRW hosts annual worship nights with hundreds in attendance, has community nights to train up and encourage worship leaders and pastors, a podcast, and more.
It’s been a tangible and evident place of the Spirit moving. Every event, we hear stories of how God used our worship time to bring healing and restoration.
Nikki Ballard, Worship Leader
WRW is a great example of something small becoming something big when God’s people across local churches come together to worship our great God. Partnering with other churches to run events can be a great way to serve the local body of Christ, as well as reach more people with the Gospel.
10 Best Youth Group Games
One of the biggest factors in successful youth ministry is having the right people in leadership who love youth and have a passion for raising disciples. Once that’s in place, just add fun!
Let’s take a look at 10 fun games and activities geared towards youth and teens:
- Outdoor Movie Night: Set up a projector and screen outside — church lawn, parking lot, or a local park—and invite teens to bring lawn chairs and blankets. Pick a fun, clean movie and serve popcorn or snacks!
- Capture the Flag: This classic challenge involves teamwork, movement and time outside. It also helps build lasting friendships between kids.
- Scavenger Hunt: A scavenger hunt around some popular landmarks in town is a fun way to build friendships, explore your city, and get teens working together in teams.
- Obstacle Course Challenge: There’s nothing better than some friendly competition between teams. This kind of youth challenge is always a blast!
- Random Acts of Kindness: Have youth break into groups and do a kindness challenge — like handing out cold drinks, writing encouraging chalk messages, or paying for someone’s coffee (good outreach opportunity, too!).
- Garbage Picking: This is a great way to combine practical service with quality time spent working together.
- Food Truck Saturday: Invite a couple of local food trucks to your church parking lot. Add in a few lawn games or a quick devotional for a chill, memorable hangout.
- Bonfire: Nothing like a bonfire, snacks, and a guitar or two under a beautiful, starry sky. Sing worship, make smores, create space for deeper conversations.
- Open Mic: Showcase some talent! This is also a great forum for youth to invite friends to something that doesn’t feel ‘too churchy’.
- Skate Park: This is a great way for youth to connect with others in the local community, too. Get some volunteers to bring snacks and drinks (hot tip: pack a first aid kit, just in case)!
The seasoned leaders at Youth Leader’s Brain run through some of their top game and activity picks for both small youth groups and larger youth groups.
Case Study: Eggstra Easter Egg Hunt for Kids with Disabilities
From overstimulated neurodivergent kids who need sensory accommodations, to kids in wheelchairs who simply need accessible facilities — kids with special needs and their families can feel left behind. Recognizing this need, Kelly Rabstein started Eggstra, a special Easter Egg Hunt at Elora Road Christian Fellowship (Guelph, Ontario) for kids with special needs.
This community engagement event was created to allow children and families that are often overlooked, misunderstood or judged an opportunity to participate in an Easter egg hunt that is fully adapted to each child’s needs. For many of these children, Eggstra becomes the first Egg Hunt they can fully participate in.
As far as we are aware, there are no other Easter Egg Hunts in Canada directed specifically for Special Needs children and their families.
Pastor Jim Gordon, Lead Pastor at Elora Road Christian Fellowship
Kelly Rabstein, the Creator and Director of Eggstra explains that for the vast majority of children served by Eggstra have never participate in a traditional Easter egg hunt, for a variety of reasons:
- too loud
- too many people
- no quiet room
- mobility issues
She partnered with Elora Road Christian Fellowship to create the first Easter egg hunt for special needs kids and their families in Canada.
We get to see smiles on the kid's face - and smiles and gratitude from parents. As parents, one of the best gift we can receive is when our children are seen and included. We don't want anybody to be left out.
Kelly Rabstein, Eggstra Creator
Top 10 Activities Your Whole Church Can Participate in
Hesitating to plan church wide events due to cost? These types of events don’t have to break your church budget. Here’s my roundup of the top 10 activities your entire church can participate in to build community and deepen relationships:
- Praise night: Whether it’s for your church or a city-wide collaboration, an evening of praise and worship is great for everyone (and cost-free).
- Church BBQ: Everyone loves a good church BBQ. And to keep the chaos at bay, your church management software can help you track RSVPs, how much food you’ll need to purchase event turn-out, etc.
- Church Picnic: Similar to a church BBQ — but make it potluck-style! Tip: assign sides, mains, salads, desserts to families alphabetically to make sure you don’t end up with 50 potato salads.
- Chilli Cook Off: Host a chilli cook off after church. Nothing like some friendly competition and a whole slew of tasty chilis to try! The church pays for the fixings, and all those home-based cooks bring the deliciousness.
- Testimony Sunday: How about an entire Sunday morning showcasing testimonies of what God has done? There’s something really powerful about hearing other peoples’ stories.
- Christmas Hamper Program: Consider partnering with a local charity to become a hub for donation drop offs or a location for assembly of the hampers. If your city/town doesn’t have that yet, connect with a few churches or drop-ins and make it happen.
- Soup Kitchen: A hot meal program for a local shelter (or even at your church, if you have the facilities!) is a great way to make a difference and serve together. Invite families or small groups to sign up, too.
- Service Project Saturday: Garbage picking at the park, anyone? This is a great way to get people working together and serving the community in a very practical way. Investment: garbage bags and garbage pickers.
- All-Ages Talent Show: Talent shows need volunteers to man lights and audio at your own facility — the participants bring the talent and fun props! Open it up to your broader community for a fun evening of entertainment for the whole family!
- Sports Drop-In Night: Book a gym or head to a local park for casual basketball, volleyball, or soccer. Keep it low-pressure and fun — people love bonding over sports.
Free Download: Church Event Planning Checklist Template
This checklist will equip your volunteers and leadership team to feel more prepared and be more effective in planning, marketing and running the event.
Use this for any event — big or small, at your church, or elsewhere.
Grab your copy of the full checklist and make sure every church team has a copy. (Hot tip: just add it to your church’s event management software so it’s on hand for every team and every event).
CASE STUDY: Royal City Mission Meal Program
Royal City Mission (RCM) in Guelph, Ontario, Canada first started its meal program in 1998.
Today, the program serves over 1500 meals every week in the city’s downtown core, offering both a daily lunch and supper. Over 70 volunteers across different churches help to make this possible every week, along with local businesses and churches that help with food donations and support.
Guelph native Jeremy Passmore volunteered at RCM as a young adult, and often brought friends to serve there too:
Royal City Mission shared Jesus through judgment-free kindness. It wasn’t in your face — it was a safe and loving environment for all involved.
Jeremy Passmore, volunteer
In many ways, Royal City Mission has become the heartbeat of the city’s downtown core for “the least of these”, especially as more individuals and families find themselves falling on hard times. They’re a great example of bringing together their church and other community members to serve those in need in a very practical way.
Frequently Asked Questions
New to planning and running events? It’s not as scary as it sounds. Your questions answered:
What if we have a small church and limited volunteers?
Use what and who you have. Keep it simple and sustainable. Choose low-effort activities (how about a potluck in the park? Weekly volleyball at a local school gym?), and work on casting the vision to your church members. Ask interested volunteers how they’d like to help, delegate appropriately, and let people take ownership over their role.
How can we make sure new people feel welcome at these events?
Assign a few ‘connectors’ to do what they do best: connecting with new people, starting conversations, and making friends. Put out name tags, have a welcome table, explain what’s happening, and avoid church lingo. Teach people how to be good question-askers (asking good questions is a learned skill!).
How do we avoid volunteer burnout while trying to do more community events?
Volunteer burnout is real. That’s why it’s important to have on-ramps and off-ramps for people who want to serve, maintain clear communication, and make sure your key 20% aren’t doing 80% of the work. Aim to involve different volunteers for different events, and rotate responsibilities. Choose activities that require minimal setup, or similar formats. And before you do anything, pull out the calendar and plan accordingly around holidays or other events.
What if people don’t show up?
Every leader’s worst fear. Don’t get discouraged, even if no one did show up the first time. Stay consistent, recognize that it takes time when you’re starting something new. Keep showing up consistently. Try adjusting the format, time, or frequency. Ask for honest feedback. Sometimes a small turnout is exactly what someone needed — a smaller group can lead to deeper connection!
How do I get buy-in from my leadership team, or volunteers?
Unpack the question in simple, clear terms. Be specific and focus on practical, actionable answers.
Share the ‘why’. Start with a trial run, and share results (testimonies, pictures, stories). Show how it supports your mission. Keep the ‘ask’ clear and manageable, and highlight the impact people can have by simply showing up and being available.
What’s the best way to promote these events so people actually come?
Use multiple channels: Sunday announcements, social media, email, text, personal invites. Don’t just share the what — share the why and the value, too. For example: “Signup for our Welcome Luncheon right after the service and hear how God is working in people’s lives — this is a great first step if you’re new!” Consistent reminders help build habits, and just like in sales, people often need at least seven touchpoints.
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