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Visibility and Accessibility

• Establish First Day School
• Pay for trustworthy childcare
• Host a Halloween, Fall Harvest, or other seasonal party for youth and their friends.
• Establish a Peace Scholarship or Peace Essay Contest for local high school students
• Host workshops on conscientious objection for students and their families.
• Host a joint Thanksgiving fellowship with a different faith community
• Host a Christmas Eve vigil for peace near your meeting location
• Establish a “Speakers Bureau” with Friends who have a gift for public speaking.
• Encourage Friends to invite their friends to worship for major milestones like wedding anniversaries
• Join local interfaith associations
• Participate in community activities and fairs, such as block parties, garden walks, or other activities traditional to the meeting’s neighborhood.
• Develop a historical tour for youth, especially as field trips for youth attending local Quaker schools.
• Rent out a theater to screen a film of interest to the meeting and the community.
• Midweek meeting for worship on a local college campus.
• Alternating picnics/barbecues/cookouts with members of a community from another side of town.

Warm Welcome

• Sincere invitations to worship, to friends, neighbors, and colleagues
• Leaving introductory pamphlets and brochures in entryways or on the benches
• Construct a reusable, portable display for community events.
• Social hour after the meeting.
• Potluck suppers.
• Discussion groups, at the meetinghouse and in homes.
• Utilize visits from public ministers as a central reason to invite folks to visit.
• Greeters
• Annual panel discussions for visitors
• Friends who answer questions after meeting
• Bulletin board with member photos and names
• Give use of the meeting house to nonprofit organizations in alignment with Quaker testimonies
• Nametags
• Quaker in the corner
• Flear market
• Bring a Friend Sunday

Nurturing Returners

Nurturing the Meeting

Using Resources

Centering Outreach

Ideas that don’t withstand the test of time

• Cookbooks. Although independent publishing is a lot easier now than in 2026, it’s a lot of work up front to manage the project and to turn the whole meeting into promoters and salespeople.
• Private screenings of films. Although it’s easy to screen a film that you own or have access to, you technically need to purchase a license to show a film outside of the home. The cost of screening licenses is such that you might as well rent out a movie theater instead. Most theaters have an easy way to do this.
• Listing in the Yellow Pages. What’s that?
• Church page in local newspapers. Print journalism has changed a lot in the last forty years. Major newspapers are less likely to maintain community sections like they once did. Instead, make sure that your meeting’s QuakerFinder page is up-to-date.
• Guestbooks. Although we’re not ready to fully retire the tradition, the act of physically signing one’s name in a book feels like a commitment to some people. Instead, perhaps offer a brochure or a card with contact information for the clerks.