It’s football season! From Friday night to Monday evening there are games at high schools, community parks, college campuses and NFL stadiums. It is truly a weekend full of football. In fact, Hall of Famer Howie Long once said, here are always a variety of ways your can serve and minister to your community every year, p
Here are 7 different ways your Church can minister to your community this football season.
- Do a Fantasy Football League. Millions of people play fantasy football every year. It provides a great opportunity for ministers to connect with others throughout the season every week. It’s also a great way to do phygital (combination in person with online ministry). Here is one example of how a fantasy football league that was started with high school students created a lasting community well past their high school years.
- Have a Tailgate after Church. People like to tailgate in parking lots outside the stadium. While many people would like to go to college or professional football game, not everyone can. So, what if your Church showed the local football team’s game at Church after the service and included some sort of tailgate. Your Church can ether get all the food and just encourage people to eat and socialize together as you watch the game or you can encourage people to bring their own food and tailgate together. Either way, it would be a fun way for people to get to know others. You could even give away prizes for the best tailgate food or setup.
- Jersey Day. Select one Sunday during the football season to encourage everyone, young and old, to wear jerseys of their favorite team. It can be any sport but you could try to focus on football. This is a fun way to strike up conversations and get to know others better as you get to see who their favorite team(s) are.
Adopt a Local High School Football Team. A lot of sports teams have equipment needs and they like to do pre-game meals. A lot of those needs can be met by parents or through fundraising, which is great. However, what if your church decided to help support equipment needs and provide pre-game meals. It provides you an opportunity to support the team in a tangible way but also allows you to start conversations that could possibly lead to spiritual conversations down the road. Don’t push or force conversations. Pray that God opens up doors and opportunities, and as He does, be bold.
- Have a Chili Cook-off. The colder it gets the better this sounds! Eating chili on a cold winter day right before a football game is great. Have your Church host a Chili cookout for people in your community right after Church and before the football games. Doing this attracts people who have great chili recipes and those who like to eat lots of chili. This could be a great opportunity to introducing your Church to the community and meeting new people. Have judges and declare a winner to wrap up the event!
- Football Team Chaplins. Some schools are allowed to have Chaplins come in and do optional Bible studies for students who would want one. Have your student minister (or a volunteer) come in and be the Chaplin. It could be a great way to get to know some more students from the local high school and minister to them.
- Flag Football Tournament. Flag football is very popular. Whether its pee-wee football or adult football, host a flag football tournament at your Church or at a local park. Give away prizes, have music and food and use it as an opportunity to have fun. Have your Church make a team or 2 to compete as well so that they can see that Christians like to have fun and are good sportsmen and women as well.
- Thanksgiving Day Football Game. Thanksgiving day is known for lots of yummy food, turkey trot 5K runs, and football watching. But, it can also be known for playing football. Before all the food gets eaten and football gets viewed, organize a fun football game in the community (possibly at your Church if you have space) for people to come out for some fun.
- Have a Super Bowl Party. The Super Bowl is one of the best outreach opportunities for any student ministry each year. Why? Because, whether you like football or not, everyone watches the Super Bowl. Not only is it the perfect way to wrap up the football season, but there are plenty of commercials people like to watch and the Half-time show is usually someone(s) people are interested in. But, your student ministry can make it into a great outreach event. In fact, here are some practical tips to do one and make it most effective:
Conclusion
Every season presents unique opportunities for ministry. The Fall is no different as you can volunteer in the schools and engage people in your community online. However, what sets the fall apart from other seasons is that it is football season. Because of the passion and excitement people get around football season, the Church is uniquely positioned to to do a variety of activities that will encourage the community and hopefully provide opportunities to have spiritual conversations with others.
What do you think? What are some other ways your Church can minister to your community this football season? Share your ideas below or on social media.
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