Church Group Ideas

Hi. I'm not in your demographic, but I'm fairly involved in my large Lutheran church. Our church provides options for that demographic both for activities with the children and without. Here are some of the things they offer: "Life group"--small groups of couples/families at similar stages in life getting together once a month for whatever they choose; Women's Bible Study morning and evening with childcare provided for morning session; Play and Pray group for preschool aged families; Family Faith night for elementary aged children and families (pizza dinner followed by family faith activity); Benediction service on Sunday evenings--casual, contemporary service aimed at older teens and 20-somethings, with or without children, childcare provided; Yogadevotion class in the evening. We have a family winter carnival type day once a year, a summer picnic/carnival and probably other things too, but this is what I remember from the top of my head.

I like the meal idea and the movie idea. You wouldn't necessarily need to provide childcare, although that would be a good thing. Maybe some teens could earn community service points (needed to graduate in our schools)
but overseen by an adult so the babysitting would be free.

Potluck dinners at someone's house. Every month someone signs up to open their home and usually provides the meat dish and drinks. The rest of the group brings everything else - sides, salads, breads, desserts. Its a great way to fellowship without the confines of a program like exercise or Bible study, you can bring the kids and you get to eat!

Most people provide some sort of activity for the kids - even if its video games in the playroom, movie or bubbles outside. I like to have a table of kiddie food - finger foods like mini hot dogs, sliders, juice boxes, Cheetos, and a dessert table just for them (non chocolate stuff at my house lol). The kids are expected and usually do behave so we've never had issues of any one child or so destroying anyone's home.

Most of the time we try to have a time of sharing with a chosen topic. For example, Mother's Day is coming up, so next month we are bringing pictures of our mothers and everyone, including the kids, will get to share something about our own moms. We had a soldier leave for another tour of duty in November, and since we have several boy scouts in our group, they taught us how to tie different military knots after dinner, and then we prayed over him and his family.

A couple of times during the year our Lutheran Church has movie or game nights for families. They pop popcorn and provide lemonade and families can bring other treats. It's a great time for parents to connect and because there are so many parents around you don't feel like you have to have an eye on your kids every single second. We also have a "sock hop" every fall with a kid friendly DJ. Admission is pairs of new socks or a free will donation to be donated to our neighborhood elementary school that has a lot of low income kids.

We also have a Moms and Kids group that meets on Thursday mornings. It is mostly stay-at-home moms or moms that work part-time or afternoon shifts in nursing. We meet for an hour in a room next to the nursery. While we do a Bible study or discussion with one of our pastors who is a mom, the kids are next door in the nursery with volunteers who are mainly retired ladies. Because I may possibly be going back to work full-time next year, I am looking into the possibility of maybe starting a similar group on Sunday mornings. Moms could attend while their kids are in Sunday School or in the nursery.

We also have BRIDGE groups (not to play the card game). They are small groups that meet weekly to discuss the previous week's scripture and sermon. There are a couple of groups that are young families that meet in each others' homes. The kids play together while the adults talk. We also had one that used to meet in the nursery at church. The kids played while we talked.

We have also done Tables of 8. Four couples are paired up to meet for dinner once a month. Each month there is a host who provides the main dish and the home, another couple brings salad, another brings bread or a side dish, and one brings dessert. Each month you are paired with three different couples. Our church did it just for adults, but it would be easy to incorporate kids too.

At Christmas time our confirmation youth will provide free babysitting one afternoon so that parents can go out Christmas shopping without the kids.

Wednesday night when confirmation classes and music groups are meeting, there is pizza available for a minimum cost. It allows families the opportunity to spend a little more relaxed time together and with other families without trying to rush home for dinner and then get to church. I think it is $2-3 for a slice of pizza, a cookie, and a glass of lemonade.

Our church has also started doing a local missions "trip" every August. Families can sign up for different local outreach activities--helping to paint a shut-ins home, helping to stack food at the food pantry, baking cookies for Ronald McDonald house or the women's shelter, pulling weeds/planting flowers in the church yard, etc.

We have also had a family camp at our local church camp for a weekend and this year they are organizing for families to travel and camp together at a Christian music festival.

I love how our church has really been focusing on families and providing so many opportunities for families to do things together.

I have this conversation all the time with my church. Here's what I tell them: I'm a working mom. I'm away from my kids all day 5 days a week. I want activities that I can do with my kids. Spaghetti dinner night is great. Beyond that, I'd like an opportunity to do mission-type things with my kids, for example, help out at a soup kitchen with them, or take things to a homeless shelter to deliver toiletries. But with a 3 year old and a 6 year old, it has to be a fairly controlled environment where they can learn how blessed they are, without getting in the way of others. There are likely things we could do, but I don't have the time or connections to find them I'd love it if my church could help me find these kinds of opportunities and organize a small group to go.

What I don't want are things like an excersize class where kids are in one place and I'm in another. Or even a parents' night out. I know that women who are stay at home moms appreciate this kinds of stuff, but I'm away from my kids too much as it is. I don't want more reasons to be away from them; I want things I can do together with my kids.