1.  Open church. If your church can be opened during the day and people encouraged to come in this is a useful mission activity. The most it will cost (at basic level) is someone unlocking and locking up again. Move up a grade, and you can have tea/coffee facilities (if you have running water) or a flask of hot water available if not. Cost: a few disposable cups and some coffee/tea/milk sachets. If you are worried about possible damage/theft, a rota of people to sit in for a couple of hours is not too hard to arrange, though you might want to get them to arrange their own cover if they are going to be unavailable.

2. If your church can be open, find a space to set up an area for personal prayer. Clear an   area of the usual chairs, and put in it instead a couple of easy chairs, a bit of carpet or rug, a writing table and chair, and a few books to tempt people into prayer. Any other artefacts can be added as and when finance permits: pictures/posters, collage materials, glue, pens, crayons and paper, pastel paints, CD player + CDs, bean bag, water feature (for that living water suggestion), pebbles, drapes, space to put up prayers (e.g. display board and Post-it notes)…. Leave leaflets advertising future events and/or regular services lying around. Shift things around periodically to keep the display looking fresh and inviting.

3.  Have a nominated day of prayer: invite people to come in and use the prayer area. Get them to sign up for a minimum of half an hour at a time and explore how they might discover new ways of praying using the prayer area resources.

4.  Ask someone to come and run a Closer to God prayer series for 5 weeks. (Resources available from Richard King or Sue Paterson). This might best be done in people’s homes, with some food to start with or to finish with – nothing fancy, cake and hot drink is fine.

5.  For people who have no time for established church services: the Supper With God (SWIG) movement! This is great for atheists or agnostics who have questions but nowhere to ask them. Puddings and wine are followed by a “hot topic” to discuss. Run on a monthly basis, it is important to stress that this is not a sneaky way to get people into church but a way of engaging with their questions in a way that respects their integrity.

6.  Limited term events (e.g. during Lent or Advent). Posada is a great way of gathering people during Advent – Mary and Joseph crib figures undertake a pilgrimage round people’s homes in the parish, staying 24 hours, then moving on. There is a hand-over prayer, but the key idea is that church folk deliver to unchurched folk, getting to know each other slightly. Other possibilities are a series of concerts, cream teas, lectures, lunches, whatever interests you can discover. If you can turn an event into a way of communicating just one aspect of the Christian faith, you will have "done" evangelism!

7.  Open the Book. Groups of people read interactive Bible stories to school children. May need some props – see Ironstone Villages for details of how it works. The bonus is that elderly people can be just as good as younger ones, and schools are keen because it helps with the assembly slot. Children recognising parishioners in the street because they have seen them in school is a good way to start building relationships.

8.  Men’s breakfast. Have a real (greasy) men’s breakfast event once a month. Begin with it as a social event and then gradually introduce speakers. Men are under-represented in most churches, so this has to be a male only group. Depending on your church’s facilities this need not cost too much: mission grants may be available to buy e.g. camping gas rings.

9.  Funeral care. A letter to the bereaved telling them that their loved ones will be prayed for on the Sundays before and after the funeral, an All Souls service invitation, the offer of visits if required…Financially this is no cost at all, but you need to make sure that intercessors are clued up to include names and that contacts for visits are maintained.

10.  Baptism and wedding reunion services. If you have a lot of baptisms and weddings, an annual reunion service where the last year’s candidates are invited back, with a party and cake after the service, can be a good PR move. So too can Teddy Bears’ Picnics, which are easy to organise and less stressful than full-blown activity days/holiday clubs – though you might work up to these…

11.  Open prayer gardens. Quiet gardens are a good way of inspiring some time with God outside church. Have a prayer trail around the village and offer a pilgrimage experience. Have set points where refreshments are available, but make sure the emphasis is on finding God rather than on socialising.

12.  Twinning. Offer to host an event to which another church (maybe a town church, or maybe a similar village church) is invited. (NB This should ideally not be a fundraising event – we are not trying to rip off another gullible group!) This is more a morale-raising exercise than anything else, and possibly a way of exploring the experiences of other Christians.

13.  Messy Church. Can be run as an after school club for children and their carers, either in school or at a village hall. You will need a small team of dedicated people and the co-operation of the school. The Messy Church handbook costs £8.99 and is full of ideas and “lesson plans” for each session.

14.  Prayer boards. Have a well-displayed prayer board for anyone to pin up their prayer concerns. If you are creative, this could be a tree with paper leaves, a fishing net with paper fish, a dark sky with stars…. Ask your local supermarket to make space for it, perhaps? Or have it in the church porch, where anyone can access it.

15.  Church café. Once a month offer free fizzy drinks and doughnuts for teenagers with nothing else to do. Let them hang out safely and build a few bridges. Not to be confused with…

16.  Café church. An informal ecumenical church service for those who don’t regularly attend. As the name implies, refreshments are available and the seating is in small groups. Every café church has its own ethos: Upper Wreake’s is called “All Together Now” and runs once a month, led by a group of lay and ordained working together.

17.  Teamwork Club Association. Outdoor pursuits for teenagers (and younger) at Rutland Water. You will need a couple of adults prepared to transport children to the venue, but all instruction and kit is provided. Costs around £5 per head, but churches might be able to subsidise it. Ask John Robertson for details (Wymondham church).

18.  Lunch club outreach. See if the local pub can do a good deal and invite anyone who is home during the day to turn up. Depending on your circumstances, it is possible to have a speaker as well as a lunch…or, if this is a pre-evangelism event, simply build bridges and then invite the newly met group to other events on a regular basis.

19.  Rogation events. Lambing, lammas, harvest, etc. Find a rural tradition and give it a Christian touch. After all, that’s how Christmas started!

20.  Church picnic. Either outside your church or in carloads. You will need to consider provision of toilets, and how best to entertain children outdoors. Again, good for inviting outsiders to and for building relationships within the church.

21.  100 Club (200 Club, 300 Club….etc.!) Get people together if only for the monthly prize draw, which is a useful forum for inviting to other events and building connections. See what happens when the entire congregation turns up in the pub for the draw. Costs nothing to resource, but labour intensive for whoever does the admin.