At Watermark we hope that Community Groups develop authentic relationships that lead to spiritual transformation. Group members should become increasingly more known by the rest of the group. Moving towards authenticity and transparency can be scary, especially if you are not already close to your group. Unique shared experiences (aka having fun together) can help break down walls and create a safe place for sharing. Even groups that have been together for years need to get out and do something purely social every now and then. These times help fill our “love banks” which can make sharing and admonishing easier in the group.
13 Fun Activities For Community Groups
- The Amazing Race (Community Group Edition): Have your own race around Dallas. Each couple is a team. One couple will act as the hosts. This couple will create the different clues and challenges. During the event, they can photograph different challenges and then be at the finish line to declare the winner and dole out prizes. If you make this an annual event, you can take turns being the hosts.
- Community Group Camp-IN: Everyone stays the night at one house as if camping out. Sleep in tents in the back yard or in the middle of the family room if space allows. Cookout, use flashlights instead of electricity, make s’mores, sing around the campfire… possibilities are endless. In the morning have a big breakfast.
Get Competitive: Divide up into teams and let the competition begin. Winners buy shaved-ice or ice cream after!
- Whirly Ball
- Bowling
- Corn Hole (bean bag toss game) in the backyard
- Top Golf
- Golf
- Disc Golf
- Putt Putt
- Board Games
- Risk
- Catchphrase
- Farkle
Weekend Retreat:
- Rent a cabin in Broken Bow, Oklahoma
- Go to someone’s ranch for the weekend
- Women getaway for 1-2 nights without husbands and without kids (go shopping, eat out, go to the spa, lay out, relax)
- Guys camping trip
- Go to a lake house in Texas or Oklahoma
- Road trip. Pack in a car or two, take a day off from work and drive to Colorado for a long weekend rafting trip. It is always good to get out of the city and see elk and prairie dogs. You may not get much sleep but you’ll have fun rafting rapids, trout fishing, and stopping to see things along the way!
- Float the river in New Braunfels
- Go on vacation together – plan a fun trip and make it happen. Put each couple in charge of one day of the trip.
Day Trips
- Dallas Arboretum – take the whole group on a Saturday, or if your group has stay-at-home moms, moms and kids can go together during a week day.
- Dallas Zoo – Pile everyone into a couple of cars and spend the day together at the zoo.
- Texas State Fair – Plan a day that you all go to the fair, eat fried food, play on the Midway, ride the Ferris wheel…
Shoot Out: If your group is into guns, have a night where you go to a gun range for target practice or an indoor archery range.
A Very Merry Community Group: Spend a holiday together. Meet at someone’s house and go trick or treating together, have a group Christmas party, eat Easter or Thanksgiving meal together if your families are far away.
Train for a race: Sign your group up for a tough mudder, a triathlon, or a 5K. Make sure to take advantage of training together before the race.
Prank One Another: Saran-wrapped each other’s cars, plant a fake tree in one person’s yard… you get the gist!
Watch games together
Cookout: If someone in your group has a pool, have the group over on a Saturday or Sunday after church. Cookout (BBQ or have a fish fry), play water volleyball, project a movie on the fence and have a “dive-in movie” night. Or if the backyard and pool are big enough, you could open it up to people in the neighborhood so that your group has an opportunity to connect with other families from the community.
Fancy Dinner: One couple hosts a fancy dinner in their home for the rest of the group. Take turns.
Go Out To Dinner:
- Patio night – sit outside at places like Hoffman’s Hots, the Truck Yard, or Chicken Scratch
- Have a group date night
- Movie night
- Bahama Bucks
- Steel City Pops
- Dallas Summer Musicals
- Go to a concert
So get out there and have fun! Use these ideas or let them inspire your creativity. Remember that we are called to pursue deep relationships with one another, based on love and acceptance (Romans 12:10). These fun experiences can help knit your hearts together.