Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to focus on gratitude to God. Sometimes it is more difficult to plan for at church this time of year as it gets lost in the hectic schedule of fall outreaches and Christmas events.
These 9 ideas for Thanksgiving church activities are here to help you plan for a variety of meaningful and special Thanksgiving holiday celebrations at church.
Use these activities to help nurture spiritual growth by fostering in your congregation a grateful heart towards the Lord.
Don’t miss out on two different free printable downloads that will help you with your Thanksgiving church activities!
9 Helpful Ideas for Thanksgiving Church Activities
Whether your church has a rich tradition of Thanksgiving gatherings, or you are looking to establish new traditions for your church, these ideas may help you find a great Thanksgiving activity for your church members.
From church service options to potlucks to family craft nights, pray about what would be the best option for your church to partake in thankfulness to the Lord.
If this is a newer addition to your church calendar, try choosing one or two ideas, especially if you are at a small church or are at a new church plant..
These activities can help put the focus on thanksgiving to God, as well as be an opportunity to foster closer relationships with each other at church.
Most of these Thanksgiving church service ideas and activity ideas focus on American traditions, although some of them could be adapted for other parts of the world.
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Host a Thanksgiving Church Service
One of the cornerstones of a Thanksgiving celebration is a Thanksgiving church service that focuses on expressing gratitude to God. Here are some details to consider as you prepare for a Thanksgiving church service.
When will the service be? The first thing to determine is the time of the service. This can affect other aspects of the service.
The two most popular times for a Thanksgiving service are the Sunday morning before Thanksgiving and the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.
The Sunday morning is further away from Thanksgiving, but is often more convenient for people who are traveling for Thanksgiving. It’s at a time when people are used to coming to church, and additional elements can be added a little more easily.
A Wednesday night Thanksgiving service can be a short and special time of giving thanks to the Lord, but can be less attended as some travel out of town to celebrate with family. It often is only a short service with no extra activities before or after it.
The other drawback to scheduling it on a day when people are out of town is that the people who put on the service – the pastor or speaker, the worship team, the audio/tech team, and more – could be out of town as well.
It can also be hard for some people to attend when they have their whole family in town and are busy with the preparations of the Thanksgiving meal.
Another option is a Thanksgiving Day service, which has the same challenges as a Wednesday night Thanksgiving service, but multiplied even more.
Other options are a Sunday night service, or any other time between Monday and Wednesday night. Take into account the people who would usually attend, and the people available to serve, and pick the right time for your church.
What elements should be included? If your Thanksgiving service is part of a regular service, you will probably be adapting the usual activities – the praise and worship time, the sermon, and other elements of the service – to reflect a Thanksgiving theme.
If you are scheduling the service when there are less people available to help, you will probably need to see who is available and plan from there. If you know you don’t have a full worship team, but have someone to play and sing from the piano, then you can plan around that.
It should also be determined if the pastor is preaching a full sermon, or if it is more of a devotional for Thanksgiving. Or, if it’s an extra service, a different speaker from the congregation or community might be a nice option for the Thanksgiving service.
Pastors looking for ideas on Thanksgiving sermons and messages can find some ideas on PushPay’s blog or Keep Believing Ministries.
Some churches like to add communion to their Thanksgiving service as they give thanks for Jesus’ work on the cross for us.
Check out our Thanksgiving prayers, psalms, and poems article for more ideas for your service. There are some great Thanksgiving Bible verses and other useful elements for your service.
Will you allow a time of thanksgiving from the congregation? While this is an additional element of the service, it deserves its own focus as it can be a lovely time of thankfulness from the congregation.
This is almost an “open mic” for thankfulness, allowing people to come forward and share with the congregation the blessings they are thankful for over the past year.
It can be a beautiful time of gratitude and encouragement for church members, as they rejoice with one another over what God has done in their lives.
It can also lead to awkward or bad outcomes if people make unwise decisions on what to say in a church service.
There are those who will overshare; there are some who will use it as an opportunity to preach their own sermon; there are others who will say things they shouldn’t for whatever reason.
It’s best to offer up some guidelines if you choose to have this time of unscreened, spontaneous sharing.
- Ask people to remember that this is a time to give thanks, not to complain about other people or groups or political parties.
- Remind them that we want to give other people time to share, so they should limit themselves to a minute or less.
- Tell them to remember they are in a church, and everything they say should be God-honoring.
If you usually have your worship service online, it may be a good idea to not include this part of your worship service in your recording. This will allow people to share a little more freely than if the service was being live streamed.
It can also limit any errors in judgment on what is shared in the thanksgiving time to the people in the room, not broadcasting it over the internet.
If you choose not to post it online, consider pre-recording the devotional or Thanksgiving message portion of the service, and schedule it to post when you would usually have your worship service.
This can be such a special part of the service, but it is not without its risks. Consider the congregation at your church and decide if an open time for expressing gratitude is a good idea for this year’s Thanksgiving service.
Will you tie in any other Thanksgiving activities or celebrations? Often small details can make all the difference. Consider adding some of these to your church Thanksgiving celebration – a potluck, a short children’s performance, and/or an opportunity for giving thanks.
– Host a Thanksgiving Potluck afterwards. We’ll discuss this more later in this article.
– Have the Sunday School/Children’s Church kids sing during the service. Not every church has a full music program, but they might be able to prepare a song for the service if given enough notice. This can be preceded or followed by the children saying what they are thankful for.
With both the song and the kids telling the congregation what they are thankful for, it’s important to prepare the children so they can do their best, and also know what kind of behavior is expected of them.
A variation of this idea is doing the same for the older kids for the youth group. Some of these kids would be able to share their God-given gifts in an honoring way, if given the opportunity.
– Provide a way for churchgoers to give thanks. If you haven’t had a verbal time of thanksgiving during your service, provide a written one to gather at the church, or some “homework” to work on at home.
Leaf cutouts like this can be a wonderful way to gather expressions of gratitude from the church family and post them to a bulletin board. To keep it even simpler, index cards could be used instead.
We’re providing an “I am Thankful for…” worksheet that you can send home with your church family (or use for any other part of your Thanksgiving celebration.
We’ve kept the “I Am Thankful For..” Worksheet purposely vague so that someone could use it for their families, or by themself. Do remember that – not everyone is able to gather with someone on Thanksgiving Day or over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Organize a Thanksgiving Meal or Potluck
Hosting a Thanksgiving meal after a Thanksgiving church service can be a great way to build community in your close and extended church family.
It’s also a good opportunity for outreach. You can remind your regular church attendees that this is a nice service for inviting friends and family, that has an added bonus of a yummy church meal.
Even though it would be a potluck, having dishes for people to sign up for can keep it more like a traditional food of a Thanksgiving meal. Some churches have their Thanksgiving services on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and follow it with a Thanksgiving potluck.
This timing usually avoids travel plans and sets a great tone for the week of Thanksgiving.
Here are some dishes you might include as your church gathers around the Thanksgiving table.
- Turkey (specify “whole turkey” or how many servings you expect, and if you want it carved)
- Ham
- Mashed potatoes
- Sweet potato casserole
- Stuffing/dressing
- Green bean casserole
- Macaroni and cheese
- Cornbread
- Roasted vegetables
- Cranberry sauce
- Dinner rolls
- Gravy (turkey or vegetarian)
- Garden salad
- Coleslaw
- Pumpkin pie
- Apple pie
- Mincemeat Pie
- Cookies
- Bottled water
- Pre-packaged butter pats
- Whipped cream
We have a free printable Thanksgiving potluck signup, as well as a Canva template that you can modify.
Visit our Gumroad shop for this free download of a Thanksgiving Potluck Signup Form.
Watch how to modify this Canva template here:
You can also use a church potluck signup online, although this might leave out some of the older members of the congregation who don’t use the internet but would love to cook for the potluck.
If you use an online service, you could go to these people first and not include on the list what they signed up for. Options for an online potluck organizer service include SignUpGenius and Evite.
Give back to others for Thanksgiving
One of the ways that we can give thanks to God is to share our blessings with others. This can mean our time, resources, or skills. Consider leading your church in giving in the following ways.
– A special Thanksgiving offering. Some churches take special offerings at holidays, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Consider choosing a cause that is outside of your church walls and giving to a ministry that needs your help.
Many ministries that provide presents for children at Christmas need donations at this time, especially local ones that might not have the resources of a national or international ministry.
Or, if your church has a benevolent fund, you can ask people to donate to that, to be able to help more people who have needs at Christmas.
– Volunteer for Charitable Causes. Whether your local rescue mission needs help, a food drive has to be organized, or a special ministry event for Thanksgiving or Christmas needs volunteers, there are many opportunities for giving to the community.
Make up a list of charitable causes that need help locally, and share it with the congregation during the holiday season, as we remember how much God has blessed us.
– Host a Thanksgiving activity for the community. Maybe a local ministry needs a more central location to host a free Thanksgiving dinner. Or perhaps your local schools have an adjusted schedule the week of Thanksgiving and could use some extra activities for the kids.
Talk with other church leaders and brainstorm what your church could do to reflect the love of God to others.
Fun Family-Friendly Thanksgiving Activities for Youth and Children
While it’s great to have services that welcome everyone, it can also be a wonderful time to set up family-friendly activities. Sometimes families are looking for something to do with visiting family members, while others are not traveling and have some extra time during the school break.
Here are some fun activities that you can organize for a variety of ages.
– Thanksgiving or Christmas Craft session. Depending on whether or not it is before or after Thanksgiving, you can have a fun time of crafts. If it’s before Thanksgiving, offer crafts like hand turkeys made out of construction paper or a thankful turkey fashioned out of a paper plate.
If it’s after Thanksgiving, get a head start on Christmas gift giving by working on crafts kids can give as gifts, such as Christmas ornaments.
– Board Game Afternoon or Evening. Have everyone bring their favorite board game and snack for a low-key gathering, perfect for casual fellowship and getting to know each other.
Planning a Thanksgiving church service can be a rewarding and memorable experience for your congregation.
Whether you choose to focus on traditional elements such as hymns, prayers, and Scripture readings, or incorporate more creative and interactive elements such as personal testimonies or a time of thanksgiving from the congregation, the goal is to create an atmosphere of gratitude and reflection.
Remember to customize your Thanksgiving church activities to the unique needs and preferences of your church community when making decisions about the format and content of your service.
With careful planning and a spirit of thankfulness, you can create meaningful and engaging Thanksgiving church activities that will leave a lasting impact on your church family and visitors.
If you liked A Guide to Thanksgiving Church Activities, you may also like Prayer Points for Prayer Meetings and Free Printable Christmas Games for Church.