11 Fun Things to Plan at Your Church This Summer

Summer is just around the corner, and that means families everywhere are looking to fill their days and weekends with fun, family-friendly activities. What better way to get involved in your community than by providing fun activities throughout the summer?

Not only are some of these super fun and sure to draw a crowd but many of them can be done without significant investment, allowing you to pour your resources into a few big events and still enjoy a fun-filled summer.

As you plan out your schedules and get your events calendar finalized, be sure to utilize church event management software like Breeze to keep everything organized and make your life simpler. Now, take a look at these 11 fun things to plan at your church this summer.

Movie Night

Who doesn’t love a good movie night?! Set up an outdoor screen and encourage people to bring blankets and chairs, or take it indoors and sprawl out across the church auditorium. If your parking lot is large enough and you have access to a huge screen, consider planning a drive-in movie! Be sure to have popcorn, candy, and s’mores!

Outdoor Game Night

Get the whole family involved with an outdoor game night. If you’ve got some crafty church members, maybe you can create some giant-sized versions of some classic backyard games, like scrabble, jenga, chess, trouble, and plinko. Don’t overlook other outdoor classics, like ultimate frisbee, cornhole, horseshoes, ladder golf, can jam, and croquet. You can utilize church management software to organize who is creating and bringing the different games, and groups can communicate with each other about any help they need in prepping for the game night.

Church Picnic

Everyone loves a good church picnic! Pick a Sunday after church, crank up the grill, and enjoy the fellowship of a beautiful summer day. Consider providing hot dogs and hamburgers, and encourage your church to bring sides and drinks to share. Be sure to have enough paper products and bring out some fun games for the kids to enjoy while their parents socialize.

Outdoor Night of Worship

Get your worship team involved in the summer fun by planning an outdoor night of worship. Maybe there’s a bonfire beforehand or a prayer service afterward. Feel free to move the whole stage setup outside for a contemporary jam session, or keep it simple with an acoustic guitar and the whole church’s singing voices.

Ice Cream Social

This is another great option for after service one Sunday. Get a variety of different toppings, some chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and countless bowls and spoons. Let everyone customize their own ice cream sundaes and enjoy talking to new people and hanging out with good friends.

Community Service Day

Plan for a church wide community service day. Maybe a local park needs some help cleaning up, or a nearby school needs a fresh coat of pain. Perhaps a single parent or widow in the church needs some help at home or an elderly couple could use some landscaping. Look for needs in your community and encourage your church to be servants to their neighbors. Create teams for different service projects and keep things organized with church event management software.

Fourth of July Social

Everyone loves a good fireworks show, so why not give it to them? Give your community a safe place to enjoy celebrating our country with a Fourth of July Social. Plan a watermelon seed spitting contest, a water balloon toss, and three-legged races. Grill some hot dogs, enjoy some red, white, and blue popsicles, and have a great time celebrating America with your church family.

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Water Day

You know warmer days are coming, so why not plan ahead to beat the heat? Gather every water toy and plan every water activity you can think of–water balloons, water slides, slip and slide, water guns, sprinklers–the whole nine yards. Tell everyone to wear their bathing suits and bring towels, and prepare yourself for epic water fights and loads of fun for the whole family.

Cookie Bake-Off

On those days when it’s just too hot to be outside, gather some church members and have a cookie bake-off! Maybe it’s a competition for who can make the best cookie, or perhaps it’s a type of service project where you’ll deliver the homemade cookies to a nearby nursing home. Either way, get a few different generations involved and prepare for some delicious cookies and growing relationships. 

Prayer Walk

Choose an area in your town that needs some extra prayer and physically walk the location while praying together as a church body. Maybe you walk your church property, a nearby school, a local ball field, or some neighborhoods. You might split up into groups and pray over multiple areas! Praying with each other can be extremely powerful, and you may even draw some positive attention to yourselves from the local community, perhaps presenting an opportunity to invite new people to church.

Car Wash Fundraiser

If your youth group has a trip planned in the summer or fall, encourage them to have a car wash! Even if a specific trip isn’t in the future, doing a fundraiser can be a lot of fun! You may even want to simply provide a free car wash for your community to try to get to know more people. Be sure to bring flyers or cards to hand out to invite people to church!

Breeze Church Management Software for Event Planning and More

Do you need help planning the logistics of these events? The best church software for small churches (and big churches!) is Breeze, which allows you to track nearly anything within your church with ease. Manage your members, communicate effectively with the staff, and plan your services and events in no time. To learn more about church event management software from Breeze, contact us today and connect with our support team.