Yes, thats right - summer time is just round the corner and its time for you, your small group and your church to start thinking how to make best use of those hazy summer evenings, the good weather and all the fun of summer.

There's no better time to invest into building relationships outside the church. Here's the scoop on how you can engage your group in reaching out this summer.

Bank Holiday Hot Spots
We all love Bank Holidays. A three day weekend is a prime opportunity for a group to put on a social event as the pressure is off to fit in all life's other activities. This year why not pick a Bank Holiday and as a group put on a summer social for all your unchurched friends? There are lots of low key things you can do such as have a picnic in the park, put on an open-air film night, or bring out the BBQ. Here's the heads up on dates so get in early and get inviting!

Bank Holiday dates: First and last weekends of May, last weekend of August

A Question of Sport
If you or your group have friends who love sports, finding out what's on in the summer and thinking of creative ways to join together to watch can be a great way to bond. It might be that its as simple as meeting together in a pub to watch or it could be that you put on your own private showing. Below are some key dates for you to consider using.

• Formula 1 : Season starts in March
  
• Wimbledon : Starts near the end of June
  
• FA Cup Final : Around the middle to the end of May
  
• Football World Cup : South Africa 11th June - 11th July 2010
• London Olympics 2012 : 27th July - 12th August 2012
  

Festival Fever
If you don't fancy organizing a summer social why not go to something that is already going on? During the summer months there are lots of public events that are put on - flower shows, balloon fiestas, arts trails - the list goes on and will be specific to your town or city. Why not spend an evening as a group going through all the things that are happening in your locality this summer? See if there are any that you feel you could go to en masse, inviting friends and family too. Its quite easy to find out what's going on. Just search on google the place you live and type in events summer 2008 and you will be given a list of websites specifically catering for your area.

Flip Flop into Action
There are different shoes for different seasons. Summer is a time to kick of the restriction and be a bit more flexible and free. In all times we want to be increasing our prayer life for our non-believing friends and our surrounding communities. Why not do something different as a group with prayer? Take advantage of the warmer evenings and take prayer outdoors. It could be that you go on a prayer walk - praying Gods blessing over the community. It could be that you take your group to a park and ask them to pray that God shows them an object on their walk (such as a leaf or a penny etc), and that God would speak to them through that, giving them keys to praying for their non-believing friends.

Feature Films
Ok, so we always have some film to see in the cinema these days but there's always a summer blockbuster to rock your socks off. This could be a great opportunity to get a whole group of people together for a cinema outing. Alternatively why not think about putting on a party with a film theme? From Star Trek to Lord of the Rings, it's a really easy way of putting on a party.