We all need a break sometimes, but those who think ahead and dedicate time to planning for the inevitable coming of fall will be the ones to reap the rewards.
Prepare your church for the coming season. The beginning of a new academic year offers a unique chance for reflection and a fresh start, much like the new calendar year.
Make sure you’re ready for anything by thoroughly organizing, thoughtfully planning, and finding the perfect middle ground between fun and hard work, and get a head start on curating the best fall season at your church yet by following these five foolproof tips.
Synergize Dates Between Ministries
When communication is limited over the summer, different church leaders can go down entirely different routes with their ideas. This can cause conflict between your church workers and cause you to miss valuable opportunities for collaboration.
Church communication is everything when it comes to effective planning, so set up open channels for discussions. Create a unified vision between your church ministries to create a coherent fall calendar with features and events that complement each other.
Synchronize efforts between the ministries at your church to enhance their impact. Imagine how powerful a sermon could be when it is lined up with a similar Bible study activity, small group task, or youth mission event.
Choose a Central Calendar Location
Nothing is more confusing than a sprawling calendar that is spread out over differing mediums. If you publish one event on the church website and bulletin board but share another on an online calendar website, it is inevitable that people will miss things.
To avoid this, decide on a unified calendar platform that works for everyone, and stick to it. Doing this will help you identify possible date clashes early on, preventing them from becoming an issue. Plus, it helps people plan their time more efficiently.
Publish the fall timetable for all your congregants to see in a central location so no one misses it. If your church has an app, add a simple timetable section and update it regularly, but make sure you display it on your digital sign to make it accessible to those without phones. Choosing digital ways to share the calendar allows you to update them effortlessly when needed.
Update the Church Management Software
Before your fall calendar is ready to be published, there will be a lot of discussions needed between management teams. Keeping your church vision aligned and unified is an essential part of maximizing the collective efforts of your church workers, and church management software can facilitate this.
If you don’t have one yet, read our guide on choosing the best church management software. It provides a central system to take care of everything, from accounting and donations to website design and attendance reports. This is a game-changer when it comes to connectedness at your church.
Many of these also include church messaging services, so you can create groups specifically to keep in contact throughout the summer. Assign one or two people from each ministry to share their ideas with the group as they come up, so nothing comes as a surprise.
Dedicate Time to Researching
Don’t plan exactly the same things that you had last year for fear of switching it up. Thinking outside the box with your fall calendar allows your church to get creative, stopping congregants from feeling bored or stagnated by the repetition.
Remember that when making changes in the church, it is essential that you do your research. If you plan a project, event, or outreach group that doesn’t align with the wider vision of the church, your community will feel disillusioned, confused, and uninspired.
Take the time during the summer months to reflect on attendance rates to previous events and projects, and ask the important question: Does this still have value? Pruning is an essential element of church leadership that clears space for new endeavors and growth.
Plan Fun Church Events
While you must prioritize the more serious elements of the fall season like which kids’ ministry curriculum you will choose for your children’s ministry and whether you have enough volunteers, the fall months are a time for celebration too!
Incite excitement for the return to church by planning several church-wide events, and even welcome ones for new potential congregants if you have the space in your budget. Start the fall season off with a bang by planning thoughtful things like pumpkin carving days for families and church Halloween events for everyone.
Start planning your big church events six months ahead for the best results. Brainstorm a list of possible events and evaluate costs to make wise decisions for your church event calendar and congregation, but don’t leave it to the last minute, as you might end up doing nothing at all.
The start of fall offers a unique chance for the church to welcome in new people and get ahead with organizing. In September, most people’s schedules are beginning to open up again after a busy, overloaded summer, and families are ready to settle down again.
Take advantage of this schedule openness to welcome new families into your church. After the summer months, many people are ready to take on more commitments and get a hold of a regular schedule. So why not make your church a part of this shift with a coherent ministry plan?