Home Outreach Leaders Articles for Outreach & Missions 9 Reasons Your Church Should Host a 5K

9 Reasons Your Church Should Host a 5K

5. Church is Fun. Each of these events seems to end up with us throwing a party for the city we’re hosting in. Although the 5K was the focus, there was an after-party with live music, tons of free food, face painting and fun for the kids, a bounce house, and even a little dancing. There is something right (and maybe even prophetic) about the church throwing a party for the community.

6. Cause Bigger Than Our Church. One in nine people in the world don’t have access to clean drinking water. As a church, we are committed to working toward bringing water to some of the world’s poorest people. We asked our people to get sponsors for them to run or walk in this event. In the end, our people raised $115,000 for the clean water cause! Amazing! The vast majority (70-80 percent) of those donors are brand new to us — meaning we’re engaging new people in the mission. Rallying our people to engage in a cause larger than our local church reminds our people we’re a part of the broader body of Christ.

7. It’s Worship. The church mobilized en masse to sacrifice for the cause of Christ to support other people. If that’s not worship, I don’t know what is. We often talk about the fact that “worship isn’t just singing on Sunday mornings,” but these events are tangible, other-centered living and give us a another glimpse of what worship is. 

8. Actual Cross-Generational Ministry. So much of the ministry we do is “age segregated,” and I’m not convinced that’s the best for anyone. These events are designed to be available to, and work with, people across the generations. It’s one of the few times as a church we gather together regardless of our age or stage. The challenge of programming for the entire age spectrum of our people creates new and wonderful connections that don’t normally happen.

9. Generates All Kinds of Positive Buzz. These events generate a bunch of measurable communication buzz when we do them. Such as: 

  • Press Features. Local, regional and national press picked up on this story. This not only makes our people feel great about their church, but creates a “third party validate” for our people as they share the story of what’s going on at their church. 
  • Sharable Social Content. Part of the reason I was pumped about the “Superhero” theme for this event was I knew it would generate huge shares on our social channels after the event. People love seeing fun and goofy things online. The sight of 2,000 people dressed up in costumes for a good cause generated huge interest! 
  • Foyer Buzz. After these events, we see a bump in the attendance of our Sunday morning services. More than just the number of people who show up, there is a tangible excitement at our services as people talk about what happened at the event. New relationships are kindled, and that spills over into our normal Sunday environments.

What impacts have you seen on your church or community through doing something like this?