28 Summer Party Ideas That Will Boost Your Witness!
"While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples." (Matthew 9:10)
Summer is such a great time, as the pace of life changes for many of us.
This is a moment to seize, as you choose to be more intentional about building relationships with your lost friends and neighbors.
Why Parties?
The story of the Bible is all about relationships - within the Trinity, between God and us, and between humans.
If we take seriously our commitment to follow the example of Jesus, we need to intentionally build relationships with those who don't yet know Him. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to be relationship builders, especially with the lost.
REMEMBER: Jesus regularly ate with the lost, the sinners, and the broken. That’s because eating together is a tangible sign of acceptance and welcome. It is an enacted parable.
At a practical level, by throwing the net out wide to begin with (through ‘parties’), we can see who is open to Jesus in us, and can subsequently invest in them. It is a fun and also very efficient way of narrowing down who could be our People of Peace (see Luke 10:5-7).
Aren’t Parties All Huge?
In case all this talk of parties is stressing you out, a ‘party’ can be 2 people sharing a cup of tea, through to hundreds coming to a full-scale event. Generally we’re thinking of smaller and mid-sized gatherings in the examples we give below.
This means that hosting parties is not just for gregarious extroverts! Introverts - this is for you too!
For us, ‘parties’ is simply a catch-all term for looking outwards into our place of mission, and offering spaces where we can easily connect and build relationships with lost friends and neighbors.
How Do I Pick?
Below are a host of ideas for different ‘parties’ that you can throw.
We’d suggest that the way you select a party idea is to first think about the people you’d like to reach.
What would be fun and engaging in their world?
When would be a good time to gather?
Where would be an invitational and appropriate space?
What would be lightweight enough to run that you can be focused on the people and conversations once it actually starts?
Essentially, the filter is simple: what will work best for the folks in your place of mission?
28 Hot Summer Party Ideas
1. 4th of July party. You could even have the kids decorate bikes and scooters and do a mini-parade!
2. Ice cream party
3. Pool party
4. Grill out with others
5. Graduation party
6. Friday cocktail hour on the front lawn
7. Host a jewelry (or other craft) selling thing
8. Micro-businesses that sell goods for ‘worthy’ agencies such as World Vision
9. Get kids to chalk positive messages on the sidewalk or people’s driveways. Or chalk a game (e.g. hopscotch) where passing kids can join in
10. Dog party
11. Runners’ gathering
12. Block party
13. End of season event for the team
14. Grilling food for soccer (or other sport) families (where you or your kids are involved)
15. Book club
16. Board games (especially good for introverts!)
17. Coffee or tea meet up
18. ‘Beer and the Bible’ in a local bar
19. Quiz night
20. Front yard parties, e.g. wheel out a TV or projector to watch a sports game or a movie together!
21. Connecting through the local ‘Nextdoor’ or Facebook groups - invite people to an event
22. Pancake breakfast, maybe even with live music/art or whatever would work in your context
23. Create your own summer tradition
24. Do events at the beach
25. Be present in the front yard - put a swing in the tree or a picnic bench for the community
26. Backyard fire pit parties. Maybe give them questions to use like, “What is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done?”, or 2 truths and a lie, or "What would you do if you weren’t afraid?"
27. Serve someone else (maybe get a group to do it together) - offer to work in a struggling neighbor’s front yard, serve at your local homeless shelter, fill backpacks for underprivileged kids etc
28. Gather families in your community and pray for the kids before returning to school
10 Step Homework for Summer Parties
Which lost friends would you like to connect with?
Therefore, what sort of party/parties are you going to do?
When and where will you do it?
Who is going to help you?
How will you invite people?
What do you need to do in advance?
How will you assess if you’ve been successful?
Pray
Pray
Pray!
To read a detailed account of how we planned, ran, and followed up on a summer party, here’s the post.
How to Grow Further
Parties are one point on our 7 step disciple-making pathway, SOW: Season of Witness Course.
You can check out all 7 steps on the whole list, and discover how to access this video-driven curriculum, by clicking the button.
