This section is intended to help you develop what you’re already doing, so you can be even more effective in engaging your local community. With a little further development, many of the ministries we already run can make greater inroads into the needs of our community. A parent and toddler group, for example, can become the hub to a range of ministries that meet real need and develop real relationship.

Marriage

The popularity of marriage may seem on the surface to be waning, but for many it’s still seen as the gold standard of stable relationships. The articles here will help you to work out how you can best serve couples planning on marrying, or wanting to make good marriages better.

Parenting

This is an area of great opportunity in our attempts to engage with community. These articles will help you make the most of these opportunities. Supporting parents, whether or not they live with their children or with their children’s other parent, is crucial to stable family life.

Living with loss

People can feel very isolated at times of loss. It can therefore be a particularly poignant time for the church to move to support - especially as we are often involved where the funeral is concerned. This section offers information and advice to those wanting to engage more thoroughly with those who are grieving.

Drugs and Substance Abuse

This is an area that causes great anxiety for many where their children are concerned. How do we drug-proof our kids? In this section we offer some tips as to how you can take the opportunities that this issue raises.

Money

Money, debt and budgeting are major issues in our society. They are the biggest cause of breakdown in marriage and family life. The articles here will give you pointers into how to engage with these needs.

Work

Work often takes us away from both community and family. Whether or not we enjoy our job, we spend the vast majority of our waking hours in the workplace. How do we help and equip our congregation to make the most of the opportunities this affords? These articles will help.

Parents and Toddlers

Parent and toddler groups are an obvious starting point for many churches in community engagement. How do we get the church on board? How do we make the most of the opportunities we already have? These articles will start you thinking, maybe in new ways.

20s & 30s

This grouping in our society is often the missing generation in church. We seem to do quite well in attracting the under-16s, but how do we keep and grow effective engagement with this group? These articles give you a place to start.

Family Projects and Centres

The number of churches that are starting family centres that meet a range of needs is growing. The articles offered here give pointers as to how to start and how to ensure that your centre flourishes.

Working with Schools - coming soon!

Due to the introduction of extended schools status, the opportunities for us to build stronger relationships with schools is growing. These articles point the way into effective engagement.

Business Plans - coming soon!

We are very grateful to the growing number of churches that are only too pleased to share their paperwork with the rest of us. Here are some samples of what a business plan for a successful family project looks like.

Mission Statements - coming soon!

Here are some examples of mission statements adopted by churches. They are not included here for you to copy, but rather to use as ideas for the development of your own.

Useful Reading - coming soon!

We wanted to include reviews of books that have been found helpful.