Think of the many ways our life experiences can group us together. You could find yourself surrounded by people on your daily commute to work. In more intimate settings, you might be in the company of friends or family for a celebration or holiday. Whether or not you’re intentional about it, you’ll often find yourself spending time with others. But did you ever think with a little intention and some creativity, spending time with others could be a spiritual habit for building relationships that follow Jesus’ example?
Why Spend Time With Others?
Spending time with others is one of the four spiritual habits we believe helps us grow closer to God. When practiced often, spending time with others can help you:
- Learn new things.
- Form new friendships.
- Build Christlike relationships with the people around you.
- Engage in healthy community — even with those that don’t share your beliefs.
This is a spiritual habit you can practice often in order to build up your community. The volunteers and families you lead can learn so much about their faith — and each other — when you make this a regular part of your ministry.
Spending Time With Others As A Community
When you gather to spend time as a community, why not make it fun? There’s probably a ton of cool things to do in your town! Here are some ideas we think can work, regardless of where you live:
- For kids.
- There’s one thing that happens almost every year for kids — they move up to a new grade! Make Move Up Day a reason to get together and celebrate the progress for the kids in your ministry.
- Host a movie night at your church and show a kid-friendly film. You can invite families to join and provide snacks for a movie experience at your church.
- For teens.
- Community service projects and local outings are gatherings teenagers love. This is the perfect opportunity to get them together for building relationships with one another.
- Do any of the teens in your youth ministry play sports? It could be fun to get a group together to visit a game and support them.
- For adult small groups.
- The parents and leaders at your church might enjoy a celebratory brunch — for no reason at all. Simply celebrate the fact that they all contribute to your community.
- Encourage your groups to support one another at big life events. Graduating college, having a baby, or buying a new car are all reasons for your groups to gather, celebrate each other, and spend time together.
There are so many ways to spend time with others. We suggest making it a fun and inclusive activity whenever you can. Grow Curriculum is something we developed to help with this spiritual habit, and it includes ideas you can use for the ministries you lead. Check out these customizable ideas:
ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS
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- Party Kits for Small Groups. This activity can be found in Volume 5 of Grow Kids and it’s literally fun in a box. These Party Kits help kids have fun and connect with their small group members and leader.
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- Good News Feed. Everyone loves hearing a good, positive update. The Good News Feed is a really fun devotional that helps kids engage in deeper conversations with their families or small groups. This resource is part of Volume 4 of Grow Kids. Use it to help your kids build more strategic relationships with others.
You can find activities like these and so much more by clicking here.
ACTIVITIES FOR TEENS
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- Spiritual Habit Tracker App. We don’t shy away from the fact that teenagers sometimes prefer to spend time together online. That’s why we developed the Spiritual Habits Tracker App. It’s a resource included in Volume 6 of Grow Students and is a great way for your teens to share their habits and progress with friends and family.
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- Party Kits for Small Groups. Oh, you better believe there’s a Party Kit for teens, too. When in small groups, this kit is perfect for creating a fun and inviting environment for teenagers to spend time together.
Click here to see more activities and resources for the teens at your church.
ACTIVITIES FOR ADULT SMALL GROUPS
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- Group Event Kits. These DIY kits are a great way to create some out-of-the box fun — get it? — for your adult small groups. This activity can be found in Volume 5 of our Grow Groups Curriculum.
Here at Grow, we’ve created fun ways for your volunteers and families to spend time together so that you don’t have to. You can learn more about the resources we’ve created and how you can use them in your ministry by clicking here.
ConclusionÂ
The truth is, the people within your ministry will spend time together at some point or another, so why not make it a way to build relationships and grow in their faith while they’re at it? A spiritual habit like this helps you to grow closer to God and the people around you. Not to mention, a little preparation can make it a fun reason to gather.
We created Grow Curriculum — because we know goals aren’t easy to set or achieve without some help. The Grow Curriculum and Annual Strategy (now available for kids, students, or adult small groups) is designed specifically to help you set and achieve your ministry goals by giving you all of the tools, teaching material, discipleship activities, volunteer training, family resources, and planning assistance you need.
