Churches don’t typically struggle to get people in the doors on Sundays. However, the other six days of the week can sometimes pose challenges. And while it may be difficult or even feel unnatural at first to engage your congregation beyond Sunday services or meetings, it’s well worth it. According to Gallup’s National Congregation Research Index, “Engaged [church] members are three times more likely to be ‘fully spiritually committed’ than those who are not engaged and 19 times more likely to be fully spiritually committed than actively disengaged members.”

Morning Coffee Talks

The A.M. can be an excellent time to engage congregation members, especially during COVID-19. Mornings typically offer flexibility and though not everyone is a ‘morning person’, beginning your day with a Christ-centered community could set a positive tone for the rest of the day.

One Pastor at the Rend Collective Edmonton has found that his church loves early morning ‘Coffee Chats’. These chats, or huddles, take place via Zoom and occasionally involve reading through a devotional. If you’d like to try launching a ‘Coffee Chat’ with members of your congregation, here are some potential morning-friendly devotions:

• My Utmost for His Highest by Oswold Chambers
• Edges of His Ways by Amy Carmichael
• New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp
• Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Weeknight Worships

Picking one night during the work week to broadcast worship could be a refreshing gift for your congregation. If you have the means and infrastructure, consider instigating a Wednesday Night Worship routine, using your in-house worship director and Facebook live.

If your congregation is small or does not have that capacity, Rend Collective Edmonton, a worship band based from Ireland has created a ‘Worship Club Church Stream.’ These recordings of original and well-known hymns and songs are available for any church or ministry to prayerfully jam out to. You can also find their podcast, Where’s The Joy In That? - a relentlessly positive podcast about finding the joy in life—especially in the places we least expect it!

Monthly Book Club

While a book club may sound old-fashioned, COVID-19 has actually caused a major upswing in recreational reading. Further, choosing books that are relevant to today’s events, trends, progressions, and issues may increase the appeal of a book club. Try these modern Christian books to provoke thought, spark conversation, and deepen your community’s spiritual rhythms.

• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
• The Burden is Light by John Tyson
• Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
  
  

Something for the Kids

Children are just as much part of the community as adults., yet they can’t always sit still for as long. Creating  programming for kids using online platforms will require creativity and whimsy. Here are a few recommended devotionals and books for youth:

• Ages 3-5: Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones
• Elementary: The Quest by Beth Moore
• Middle Grade: The One Year Book of Did You know Devotions by Nancy S. Hill
• Teenagers: Love Does by Bob Goff
  

Out of book ideas? Another way to get children engaged is by creating fun internet challenges for them. Ask them (with their parent’s permission) to memorize a Bible chapter and video themselves reciting it without looking. Challenge them to illustrate a story from the Bible and post the best five on your church’s Instagram.

Engaging your church on weekdays doesn’t have to be hard. It can be as simple as drinking coffee and choosing a devotional, turning on Facebook and praising God, reading a book and discussing, or posting children’s drawings of Daniel in the Lion’s Den. Find what’s right for your church and enjoy one another’s company while you seek God throughout the week.

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