12 Creative Fall Events To Try At Your Church
As the leaves start to turn colors, the air gets crisper, and pumpkins appear everywhere, it’s easy to feel the excitement of Fall. As a church, this season brings unique opportunities to tie the fun of the season to what’s most important to you.
Each Fall event your church hosts creates opportunities to reach your community, promote your church, and ultimately, spread the Gospel. Here are 12 creative fall events to try at your church this season:
1. Harvest Festival
A Harvest Festival is the perfect Fall event to help bring people to your church who might not step foot inside otherwise. Traditionally, Harvest Festivals were celebrations of the completion of a harvest season, so as you plan, think through how you can incorporate themes of abundance and gratitude into the food, games, and activities you include.
Depending on the size of your church, this can be as big or small as you’d like, but try to include some element of Fall-themed food, activities for all ages, and a service or outreach element.
Why Communities Love This:
- Family fun designed for all ages
- Creates easy, natural opportunities for community outreach and evangelism
- Emphasis on Fall (decor, food, and activities)
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Promote a freebie (meal ticket, candy, balloons, face painting, etc.)
- Focus on outreach. Have a designated area for guests to give their contact info so your church staff can follow up.
- Include a service project like bringing canned goods for a local food pantry.
2. Pumpkin Decorating Contest
A pumpkin decorating contest is a fun way to host a little friendly competition and encourage creative expression among your church community. Invite people to bring their own pumpkins for a night of decorating and fun.
Why Communities Love This:
- Friendly competition!
- Minimal logistics and/or planning needed: just bring a pumpkin and come on!
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Provide a few different contest “levels”. For example have a carving option, a painting option, and even just a sticker or marker option for the little ones.
- Offer rewards for the contest winners. Get creative and make this fun!
- Have a plan to display the pumpkins in your church throughout the rest of the season.
3. Fall-Themed Potluck
It’s always fun to gather around the table together. Hosting a potluck in the Fall where members bring Autumn-themed dishes is a great way to encourage fellowship and community at your church. Plus, it’s a fun way to try new Fall foods!
Why Communities Love This:
- Great for both small and large groups
- It’s simple: you bring something, I bring something, and we will eat together
- It centers around food!
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Consider tying this into your church’s sermon or Bible studies. Teach about a time when Jesus shared a meal with others and then gather together to do the same.
- Lay out separate tables with categories of food for people to try (ex. appetizers, soups, main dishes, desserts).
- Make it more intentional by including a designated prayer time or short message during the meal.
4. Outdoor Movie Night
The cooler temps and earlier sunset mean it’s the perfect time to get together, bring blankets and chairs, and watch a fun outdoor movie. Consider renting a large projector screen so your community can all see and hear the movie. Choose either a Fall-themed film or a family classic that everyone can watch together.
Why Communities Love This:
- Creates a fun but safe event to do later at night
- Opportunity to be outdoors together
- Fun for all ages!
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Rent/borrow/buy a popcorn machine and pass out popcorn during the movie.
- Make it feel like a drive-in movie theater by parking some trucks in the back to allow people to sit on the tailgates to watch.
5. Trunk or Treat
Hosting a trunk or treat is the perfect Halloween alternative to host at your church. During this event, church members decorate their cars and park where kids can walk around to each car to collect candy. It’s a fun opportunity for people to get creative with decorations and costumes!
Why Communities Love This:
- Fun for the whole community
- Creates opportunities for members to invite friends and kids to attend an event geared towards them
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Sign up as small groups so classes can work together to decorate a trunk and then take shifts hosting.
- Go big in your promotion: put ads in local papers, magazines, and shops. This is an opportunity to have guests come to your church for the first time!
- Include games or activities at each trunk to make it even more fun for children.
6. Thanksgiving Service
Churches typically host special Christmas services, but this season provides an opportunity to host a special Thanksgiving service to focus on gratitude and reflection. Consider incorporating a dedicated time of prayer thanking God for all He has done at your church this year.
Why Communities Love This:
- Provides a dedicated time to look back and reflect on all God has done.
- Creates unity among church members.
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Incorporate an element of generosity like a special offering where people can give back some of what has been given to them.
- Design your worship set around songs of Thanksgiving.
- Use unique Thanksgiving-themed graphics to promote the service.
7. Bonfire & Worship Night
Host a Bonfire and Worship Night at your church. This is a fun way to plan a fall event and still incorporate a time of worship. If your church is in an urban area, consider renting portable fire pits or even finding a location outside of the city to drive to. Then, invite a team of musicians to bring their guitars and lead everyone through worship under the stars.
Why Communities Love This:
- Creates a special time to worship together outside of a normal church service.
- Provides opportunities to fellowship with other believers
- Appropriate for all ages
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Bring supplies for s’mores and roast marshmallows over the open fire.
- Incorporate different worship elements like singing, praying, and even a time of communion.
- Expand the Fall theme by setting out hay-bales for people to sit on as they gather around the fire together.
8. Craft Fair
Plan to host a craft fair at your church featuring homemade Fall items from the community. This could include anything from quilts and jewelry to wood carvings and leather-work. Encourage church members to use the gifts God has given them and passions for different hobbies to bring what they’ve made.
Why Communities Love This:
- Creates opportunities for people to use their gifts and hobbies to benefit the church.
- Serves as a come-and-go event so people have the flexibility to stop by no matter how busy their schedules are.
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Ask people to give a percentage of the proceeds to a designated mission or service project at your church.
- Include a “children’s area” where kids can sell small trinkets and crafts they’ve made.
- Pair this with a bake sale and encourage people to bring fall-themed baked goods, too.
9. Nature Walk & Prayer
Organize a Fall nature walk followed by a group prayer time. This nature walk could be on nearby hiking trails or even just around a local park. Focus less on location and more on creating opportunities to get together for fellowship and prayer.
Consider incorporating a time to teach about prayer walking and encourage those who attend to put it into practice praying for the people and things they see around them as they walk.
Why Communities Love This:
- Simple, easy, and powerful.
- Provides ways for people to get outside, be active, and spend time with other church members.
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Encourage people to bring trash bags and pick up trash in the area as they walk emphasizing the importance of service.
- Plan to eat together at a local restaurant after the walk and prayer time is finished.
- Bring bottled water and hand them out to people you see along the trail or around the park.
10. Hayride & Storytelling
As a church, organize a hayride with a fall storytelling theme. One of the best ways to do this is to set up stations along the way that fit with the story. For example, you could stop to eat a themed snack, play a game, or even watch people act out different pieces of the story. As you think through stories, consider choosing a Bible story with these different elements in it.
Why Communities Love This:
- Helps bring Bible stories to life making them memorable and impactful.
- The storytelling element adds meaning to just a simple hayride.
- Kids (and adults) love hayrides!
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Start the hayride at set times throughout the day so people have opportunities to attend at different times.
- Recruit volunteers to take shifts at the different stations.
- If a hayride with horses and trailers isn’t an option, get creative! You could do something as simple as setting hay bales in the back of a truck and driving around the church parking lot to different stations.
11. Bake Sale Fundraiser
A Fall-themed bake sale is a fun raise to raise funds for specific church activities. As you plan, be sure to advertise what the funds are going towards and invite anyone in the church to contribute different fall goodies.
Why Communities Love This:
- Easy way to raise money for something specific in your church.
- Yummy baked goods!
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Include different generations. For example, ask senior adults to help bake and members of the youth group to take shifts selling the treats.
- Tie this into another event you’re already doing. For example, have a table set up at your outdoor movie night, bonfire, and/or hayride.
12. Coat Drive
Lastly, consider organizing a coat drive to help those in need. Fall is a great time to gather coats before winter temperatures arrive. Partner with local homeless shelters, food banks, and/or clothes closets to see what the needs are and work to help meet them.
Why Communities Love This:
- Offers a tangible way to give to those in need.
- Doesn’t require an additional time commitment.
Extra Ideas For Your Event:
- Create flyers or cards with information about your church to place in the pockets of the coats.
- Consider hosting a day at your church to hand out the coats gathered to those in your community who need them.
Next Steps
Hopefully, these ideas help to inspire you to try a new, creative event at your church this season. Fall events are the perfect way to engage your church community, strengthen bonds, and foster both spiritual and social connections.
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