At the Center for Church Renewal, we would love to have you "share your experiment" with us. What new, outside the box ministry experiment have you tried over the past year? We would love to learn from you and learn from each other. The first 100 to share will receive a $10 gift card to amazon or starbucks as a thank you for your time.
You can share your experiment here.
I was so excited to read responses! But I see I am the first. Our GEMS ministry went completely virtual this year. We met for Theme and Badge nights using Google Meets (since most kids are familiar with it due to stints of virtual school). Our attendance was pretty much the same as when we were "live" in the past! Our GEMS leaders did a weekly Bible study via Google Meets, which grew into a second Bible study that included more women in our congregation. and, I suspect this is a practice that will continue! This was so fantastic-- it allowed a demographic of women who otherwise were not part of small groups or unable to attend ministries like CoffeeBreak the opportunity to grow spiritually and relationally despite restrictions.
Last year, our grads lost their traditional grad ceremonies. We got them together in social distance style, dressed in their formalwear and took socially distanced photos. We put these into a video celebrating them and letting the congregation know what their plans (for gr. 12 grads) were for the fall. This was given to grad families and live-streamed for the congregation during a worship service.
I believe there's more room for creative responses-- I'd like to host a virtual trivia night . . . if anyone has any tips and tricks for this, let me know!