Fall events like festivals, Trunk or Treats, and pumpkin painting parties can draw people into a season of connection, build relationships, and create a welcoming atmosphere that extends beyond the church walls. Whether it’s a family movie night or an apple-picking outing, each event is an opportunity to foster fellowship, serve the community, and show Christ’s love in action. Successful fall events require planning, enthusiasm, and a bit of creativity to make each gathering memorable and impactful. With the right volunteers, budget, activities, and communication, your church can create an experience that resonates with attendees and encourages them to return.
1. Fall Festival
Starting strong with a big fall event your church can host is a Fall Festival. If you have never been to a Fall Festival, you can compare them to a small and charming carnival. Fall Festivals take a lot of work to put on, but can be a great way to to encourage new people to connect with your congregation and foster a sense of community! Some things to consider when hosting a Fall Festival are volunteers, budget, location, activities, and getting the word out.
Volunteers: The right volunteers will make or break this event! You want to ensure that you have people helping who are excited about this event and know how to be flexible with plans. Volunteers are the ones who will be extremely hands-on from start to finish, so make sure you can apply their strengths where they are most useful. For example, volunteers who are great with kids should be placed in kid-focused activities to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Young adult volunteers would be great at assisting the elderly. High school students could help with parking instructions. You get the point! Ensure you plan and communicate with everyone beforehand so they know what to expect. Also, make sure to have a rotating schedule so that everyone can experience and enjoy the festival!
Activities: There are so many fun and unique activities to have at your Fall Festival, that it can be hard to choose! Some ideas we came up with are bobbing for apples, face painting, a petting zoo, hay rides, pumpkin bowling, scavenger hunts, candle making, etc.
Budget: Before taking planning action, sit down with your church board and brainstorm everything that will cost the church money. Think about the general location and materials that will be useful when hosting a Fall Festival. Fundraising is always a great way to earn money to throw this event together!
Location: Depending on your geographical location, you can incorporate some unique activities like a hay ride, pumpkin bowling, candle making, a corn maze, etc. Look up local spots in your area that would be willing to have your Fall Festival!
Spreading the word: This might be the biggest step in your planning process! You want your congregation to show up and have a great time, but also find ways to invite the local community to join as well. Sermon titles, printables, and social media posts are a great way to invite guests internally. To extend the invite outside of your congregation, you can pass out printed invitations to the local community, advertise in local newspapers and businesses, and encourage your congregation to invite people.
2. Trunk or Treat
Calling all candy lovers of any age! Trunk or treat is a great way to involve all members of your congregation as well as the outside community. You can invite everyone from your church to bring their car, decorate it, and pass out candy to everyone in attendance. Attendees can also dress up. This creates an opportunity for new guests to interact with church congregants, volunteers, and staff. It’s a warm and friendly way to invite people to the next Sunday service.
This low-cost event only requires a parking lot (the church’s), candy, decor, and some sort of invitations (digital and/or printable).
3. Apple Picking & Cider Making
Depending on where you are located, this might be a fun outing for congregants to participate in! You can organize for everyone to meet at a local orchard to pick some yummy apples. It’s common that orchards have plenty of activities for everyone of all ages, as well as great places for group photos. Churches should also encourage people to invite guests outside of the usual congregation! After picking apples, you can continue the fun by making cider from the apples picked and share with your congregation after the next service.
4. Cake or Dessert Walk
This event is a simple yet fun way to raise money for the church and connect with the community! To get started, organize a location, date, and time, where plenty of people can come with baked goods to sell and shop for. Next, you’ll want to create a digital or physical invite (or both) – with details all about the baked goods walk. Make sure to share this invite in several services, and encourage guests to invite their friends and family as well.
To run the event, you can sell tickets that allow guests to take a certain amount of baked goods, or pay per piece at each table. To spruce up the event, you can hand out free hot chocolate while attendees shop the goods!
5. Pumpkin Painting Contest
We would suggest pumpkin carving..but we know that can get pretty messy. A fun way to keep pumpkins involved is by painting them! This way, the pumpkins will last all season long. After picking the date, time, and location (and letting everyone know), you can set up multiple tables filled with different paint colors, brushes, and of course – the pumpkins. It’s up to your church to decide the little details such as charging for the event (to fundraise), picking the pumpkin size, and contest rules and categories.
Pro tip: Have your children’s minister lead the event to help establish a connection with new and old faces!
6. Family Movie Night + Bonfire
It’s time to bring out the coziest blankets and smores! A family movie night is a unique way to have your community gather and do something together. Depending on the weather and resources, your movie night can be hosted indoors or outdoors. If it is indoors, you can use the normal screens that you use during service. If the movie night is outside, we recommend using a projector and some type of screen. You can add more to the event by having a bonfire where everyone can make smores and get warm.
To host this event, take an evaluation of the supplies and space that you have access to. We suggest involving your AV team with the technical side of things. You want to make sure you have enough power to run all the necessary equipment.
Checklist items:
- Invites for the event (digital or printed)
- Fire Pit + Wood
- Projector + Screen or Wall to Watch
- Computer or DVD player (so you can watch the movie!)
- Snacks or things for smores (skewers, chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers)
Movie options:
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
- Frozen
- Tangled
- Beauty + The Beast
- Scooby Doo
- Under Wraps
- Ghostbusters
- The Goonies
- The Ghost And Mr Chicken
- E.T.
7. Operation Christmas Child Packing Party
Operation Christmas Child (or OCC) is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, that delivers gift-filled shoeboxes to children in need around the world, sharing joy, hope, and the message of God’s love. You can make a powerful impact by hosting a “Packing Party,” where guests come together to fill shoeboxes with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items. It’s a wonderful opportunity to serve together and reach out to the community. To invite people, consider sending a personal invitation, announcing it during church services, and sharing it through social media. Make the event accessible and welcoming, highlighting the fun and meaningful impact of each shoebox packed!
Wrap – Up
Hosting fall church events offers a fun and engaging way to build community, connect with new faces, and bring joy to families in your congregation and beyond! From a lively Fall Festival, complete with volunteer-led activities like face painting, hayrides, and pumpkin bowling, to a cozy Family Movie Night with a bonfire and s’mores, there’s something for everyone. Events like Trunk or Treat, a Pumpkin Painting Contest, or an apple-picking outing invite local involvement and provide simple ways for guests to engage with each other. A fundraising Cake Walk or an Operation Christmas Child Packing Party creates purpose, allowing your community to give back while having fun. By planning, involving volunteers, budgeting, and spreading the word creatively, you can make these fall events memorable, impactful, and community-centered.