Ideas
Have a good Idea to share?
Have a thought for a great program open to Christians?
Let us
Know
Use this guide to read more about ministries in the following areas:
Ministry Ideas
1.
Intercessory
Prayer Group--all ministry ideas should be presented to the Lord in prayer,
waited upon for confirmation from the Lord, then bathed in prayer once started
2.
Nursing
Home Ministry--singing by a group, singing by an individual with guitar(?),
room-to-room visits (reading Scripture, chatting, praying w/ those who would
like prayer); best to go on a regular basis, not just around holidays
3.
Jail
Ministry--regular visits to inmates who request them; Bible studies for men and
women; help a pastor w/ a worship service (help lead in singing praise songs)
or prayer meeting; gather Christian books and materials for the county jail
library
4.
Neighborhood
Ministry--houses of prayer; Bible studies (Community Bible Study?); prayerwalking;
going door to door to let neighbors you’re praying for them, leaving door
hangers telling them you stopped by and will be in touch with them
5.
Prayerwalking--residential,
government, commercial areas; churches, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.;
try to pray for each home in a particular jurisdiction before the year 2000; in
conjunction with prayerwalking or separately, divide up the pages of the local
phone book (for Leesburg, Purcellville, Round Hill, etc.) among people who will
commit to pray for each name in on their assigned pages of the directory
6.
Concerts
of Prayer--joint prayer meetings for the purpose of corporate fasting &
prayer for specific reasons; joint praise & worship services where choirs
from many churches participate, being sure to include youth and/or children’s
choirs, youth skits & human videos; joint hymn sing around the holidays or
any other time of the year (have refreshments and a time of fellowship
afterward)
7.
Christian
Outdoor Festival
8.
Bible-reading
Marathon--could be done prior to the National Day of Prayer
9.
Bible
Quiz--teens; children; adults; maybe a Bible Spelling Bee; award prizes; hold
in conjunction with a joint potluck supper, inviting all the churches in a
given area to come
10.Appreciation dinners or
ceremonies for police, fire & rescue, teachers & school staff, medical
personnel; or, have different churches assigned to "adopt" the
different schools in Loudoun and take snacks periodically to the teachers’
lounges to say thank you to teachers, many of whom do work hard for their
students; include a card from the church identifying who brought the food; this
can also be done for local fire houses and police offices as well as for
medical staff of the hospitals/medical centers
11.Christian Film Festival
12.Promote the National Day of
Prayer "Adopt-a-Leader" and "Adopt-a-Pastor" programs
whereby civic leaders, at any level, are "adopted" for 12 months of
prayer and/or a local pastor (your own or another) is likewise adopted for 12
months of prayer. Encouraging cards and notes are also sent once a month. This
is a very rewarding program for those who participate and stick with it.
13.Daily prayer calendar
listing 30/31 churches in the Leesburg area (or western or eastern Loudoun
areas) so that prayer for the Church in Leesburg, etc. is going up every day of
the year. Focus prayer on the pastors and lay leadership, asking the Lord to
bring the body of Christ together for ministry in a given locality, to reach
the lost for Christ.
14.Help with Loudoun Habitat
for Humanity and/or Christmas in April.
15.Sponsor clean-up days for
the areas around your churches as well as the community where your church is
located. This couldl not interfere with the "Keep Loudoun Beautiful"
campaign but could complement it. Or, churches could become a helpful part of
the KLB program. Also, churches could assist the Town of Leesburg Police to
eradicate graffiti by helping with their ongoing graffiti removal program.
16.Set up a coffee house for
teens and young adults in a church or even a storefront every Friday and/or
Saturday night; this would be a comfortable, non-threatening place for youth to
come and have quiet conversation and meet Christian youth who are prepared to
share their faith in a loving manner; have light foods and music; invite
acoustical musicians to come and play regularly
17."Dial-a-Bible
Story"--set up a phone line, staffed by people willing to read a
children’s Bible story over the phone during certain hours of the day; this
could be done by retirees during daytime hours and after-school hours
18.Host Sunday school exchanges
between churches, similar to choir exchanges--send some youth and children’s
representatives to other churches to present a program showing what they are
learning in their Sunday schools; have Sunday school teachers prepare a lesson
that could be easily presented to children of another church
19.Continue choir exchanges
between churches, inviting more churches to participate
20.Host more joint covered-dish
dinners between different churches, with a time for singing and for people to
give a testimony of what God is doing in their lives after the meal; everybody
helps to clean up!
21.Hold a lunch-time prayer
meeting daily (at different churches each week or month?) to pray for revival
in Leesburg/Loudoun and our nation
22.Help out with the
"Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers" (14 Cornwall St NW 779-8617)
23.Start a Christian TV show on
Cablevision of Loudoun; start a Christian cable network
24.Help Life Line, Inc.
Pregnancy Care Center (completed funded by donations made by Christian churches
and private individuals)--help make repairs in the center; help them set up a
web site; serve as board members; provide help with public relations, telling
others about Life Life’s free and confidential services; promote abstinence
among youth in churches and speak up at School Board meetings re the importance
of teaching abstinence in the public schools, as Loudoun Co. schools used to do
prior to "Family Life Education"
25.Contact Loudoun Co. Social
Services and ask them how people from the church can help, e.g., the Community
Holiday Coalition (Karen Velez: 771-5718)
26.Give away Bibles at public
fairs and festivals where non-profit organizations are allowed to set up a
booth (some Baptist churches already do this at Sterlingfest)
27.Set up an after-school
tutoring program, particularly for elementary-aged children; have elderly
people serve as "grandparents" to the kids to provide loving
encouragement along with homework help; sponsor a reading contest for the kids,
with prizes
28.Promote National Christian
Heritage Week, usually the week of Thanksgiving, to educate the public about
America’s Christian heritage; ask the mayor to sign a proclamation and hold a
special ceremony, similar to the National Day of Prayer
29.Promote the National Day of
Prayer to individual churches to let Christians know this is a day to lift up
leaders in government and in local communities according to the apostle Paul’s
exhortation to "pray for all in authority" so that we may lead
"peaceable lives;" educate people in churches about the Christian
principles that this nation was built upon
30.Sell handmade craft items at
August Court Days and pass out brochures telling others about Loudoun Men of
Integrity; designate the profits from sales to meet a need in the community or
to help fund a LMI ministry in progress
31.Sponsor a Leesburg March for
Jesus; or hold an outdoor prayer rally rather than a march, at a place such as
the 4-H Fairgrounds, then have a picnic afterward
32.Compile a list of all the
Christian ministries active in Loudoun to distribute to churches so that Christians
know what is available to meet their needs, whom to pray for, and where to go
to volunteer; ministries include Young Life, Life Line, Jeremiah House, Loudoun
Christian Businessmen, Community Bible Study, Fellowship of Christian Athletes,
Loudoun Men of Integrity and others.
33.Hold a Prayer Retreat for a
weekend at a place like the 4-H Fairgrounds where facilities are provided for
preparing food (unless this is a weekend of fasting); plan ahead of time what
additional emphases there will be--teaching, focused prayer topics, waiting on
the Holy Spirit, praise & worship, etc.
34.Serve as intercessors and
mentors for youth ministry leaders in Loudoun, those leading youth groups in
churches and those involved with youth in the schools (such as Young Life, Bible
Clubs, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, etc.); offer to pray for teen leaders,
also, who are ministering to their peers in church, in school, and in
outreaches.
35.Serve as tutors in
after-school or weekend programs at elementary, middle, and/or high schools,
encouraging children to study and succeed in school as well as letting them
know we care about them as individuals.
Skip
& Candy Brinkley
Body of Christ
703/777-3779