Some ideas:
- Café – a social focus for the local community
- Providing breakfasts for people with social needs
- Teaching cooking skills to young parents
- Well-being clinics / counselling
- Community co-operative
- IT training
- Public interface for Age Concern and other such charities
- Post office
- Community shop
- Crèche
- Sports
- Youth activities
- Start your own choir, worship group or youth club
- Link with local festivals or events
- Link with special national events (e.g. commemoration of World War One)
- Make exhibition space available to promote sustainability and caring for creation - and become a "champion" of these issues yourself, advice available at Shrinking the footprint.
- Having the church open for prayer or as a quiet space - even just a regular hour a day (perhaps over lunchtimes if you have shops or businesses nearby) or Saturday mornings can be a tremendous form of outreach.
- Meeting space for special interest groups
- Make exhibition space for artists (and agree a suitable commission rate on sales!)
- Rehearsal space – choirs, bands, ensembles, rock groups, drama (one church in the north east even has circus acts rehearsing in its church building!)
- Performance space - all churches can host musical concerts but you might also have the sort of flexible space that would be suitable for dance, drama and other activities
- Start a concert series based around your church musicians and/or other local talent
- Heritage trail – most churches have special features of interest, and some have connections with notable cultural figures or historical people or events. Be aware of what makes your church special or instructive, write these up, put photographs and details on your website, participate in heritage events, and create links with special interest groups.
- Heritage centre - does your community need exhibition space? Stockport St Mary have hosted such a centre very successfully for some years, and are now significantly developing these facilities by attracting external financial support.
- Training facilities
- Meeting space
- Office space – e.g. housing associations, charities, age concern or other suitable organisations
- Commercial crèche facilities
- Businesses providing yoga, dance and other lifestyle classes.