It comes up again and again in the the Church Marketing Lab: How does your church plan? Answers range from the totally-stressed, overworked church staff who decide on Thursday what they’ll do on Sunday to the business-like planners who know the full Sunday plan years in advance. But what about your church? How far in advance do you handle planning for your weekly service?
In a not-so-surprising result, the biggest chunk of folks, 29%, that responded squeeze things in, but usually with at least a week to spare. And another 21% of you aren’t even planning that far out. You’re watching things come together within a week of your service. So that’s 50% of churches that don’t know what they’ll be doing for their main service within a month of it happening.
In some encouraging news, the second most popular response was churches that plan between one and six months in advance. That was 27% of you, and combined with another 12% who are ready 6 months to a year out and 5% going beyond a year in advance, that makes 44% of respondents planning beyond a month out. Three cheers to you! And heck, we’ll throw in the 6% of churches using the Book of Common Prayer for their planning to make it an even split between “under a month of planning” and “over a month of planning.”
We’re not here to diminish the value of being sensitive to God in your planning and marketing. But we are here to remind and encourage you that making plans is a great way to be prepared and make wise decisions as you lead your community. When you’re thinking ahead and asking God where he’d like you to head in the future, you can choose wisely, squeeze finances, plan well and market better.
We look forward to continuing to tell stories of churches who plan well and stay open to opportunities to hear God and change plans.
This week, we’re asking: In your communication, which of these three does your church aim to be: timeless, relevant, or pertinent? Answer on our home page now.
