Today we have some great ideas about reaching out to our community. Realize that as you hear these, Satan will give you a ton of reasons why you shouldn’t.

I found a cool “community” on Google+ called Christian Techies and asked for outreach ideas. Here are the responses I got:
Special thanks to Phil Pratt, Stephen Conigliaro, and Dustin W. Stout

Well, I don’t belong to a traditional church structure/format anymore as I’ve moved into the house/home church format, but I can tell you what works for many is not focusing on getting people into a church building but being the church by reaching/serving people where they are (which I hope is an answer to your question regarding outreach), so here’s some ideas:1. 5-10 people volunteer bi-monthly at the emergency/food shelter, bringing food (homemade & canned), serving the people in need, listening to them, praying w/ them, simply caring about them…2. A handful of musicians (or your worship team) grabbing their acoustic guitars & bi-monthly visiting the children’s ward at the hospital, putting on a mini-concert & giving mini-lessons to the kids, perhaps videotaping the visits & when the kids are released give them a copy of the videos, then follow up w/ calls & cards to see how they’re doing…3. Learn some old songs (& a hymn or two) from the 1930’s-60’s & visit the retirement homes once a month, putting on a dance or just sit around listening to a CD of those classic songs & get to know the people, then share w/ them Jesus, pray w/ them, etc…4. Form a team of people who look out for the elderly & the widows, not only for the ones in their church body, but in their own neighborhood: help them move, help them w/ home or car maintenance, do yard work for them, make sure their heat or AC works, make sure their sidewalks are shoveled for the home care workers to walk safely to their doors…People are drawn to other people.groups who truly care about everyone from the kids to elderly, there’s a sense of security there & that works.5. If you have tech savvy people in your church, you could advertise in the newspaper & offer a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) weekend: a free computer course/class twice a month on how to create a spreadsheet or power point presentation… offer to take a look at any computer brought in, whether it’s scanning for viruses, degragging their hard drive for them or installing Skype for someone on their laptop & walking them through how to use it, helping them download free software… showing someone how to install an app like how to read a QR code w/ their device, showing them how to use their webcam to make a video, etc…6. If your building has a nice, roomy kitchen then you could open up a cooking class by advertising it to the community, teaching the single guys (or gals) how to make a simple quiche, casserole, soups & stews… hand out easy crock pot recipes, etc…
7. If you have police officers or self-defense instructors that are a part of your church body, open up a free basic self-defense class to the community, if there are firemen or doctors in your church body, offer a basic first aid class, etc…
The church building can still serve a purpose & it can help your outreach, but these are just some practical ideas on how to not necessarily get people into your church building but help the...