We are smack dab in the middle of the Christmas season. There is a TON of stuff going on. Christmas parties, school concerts, and lots and lots of family get-togethers. Many churches jump on the bandwagon and fill the calendar with their own slate of events. That may be the proper strategy in your case, but realize there is a cost. Each event you do takes away from your ability to do something else with excellence – do you want to split your budget and staff energies across ten December events, or does it make more sense to focus intently on the Christmas Eve services [and making sure that whatever you invite guests back to in January is awesome]?
Another cost is congregational overload. Think of it this way – would it be good for your child to be in basketball – and track – and drama club – and student government – and debate team – and choir – and band – all at the same time? Why not? Those are all good things… They are indeed good things, but not simultaneously. Similarly, you can burn out your congregation by “should-ing” them into too many things in an already jam-packed December. Not trying to be a Scrooge, but I’d rather see churches do a few things and do them incredibly, than do a bunch of things so-so. I say this a lot, but it’s good to remember – more isn’t better, better is better.
Don’t burn out your congregation with too many Christmas events
Hmmm - well, let's see...
I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
View all posts by creativeworshipideas
creativeworshipideas 