For many churches, this season has been a year of cancelled events. But the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine programme brings the hope of restarting in-person events.
For many churches, this season has been a year of cancelled events. But the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine programme brings the hope of restarting in-person events.
There isn’t a day that goes by when one of my three girls isn’t talking about weddings. Who knew it? Some girls really do think and dream about these things from a very young age! Whenever there was a wedding at our church the girls would ask to come to the ceremony to see the princess dress and of course see the kiss! Not much has really changed as the girls have gotten a little bit older, it’s still a big topic in our house.
They really enjoy watching a TV show called Don’t Tell the Bride. The groom has three weeks and a £14,000 budget to deliver a wedding day to remember. It is just brilliant TV; I love seeing the contrast of the super confident grooms on day one slowly crumbling as they reach the final week, after having hit all sorts of obstacles and made all kinds of mistakes. A particular highlight for my girls is the moment when the bride gets to see her wedding dress for the first time. You have got to love the gasps of horror and the dramatic tears as the most hideous wedding dress is unveiled. Few grooms plan and deliver the perfect day, and most of the weddings end up being the total opposite to what the bride would have planned herself.
I am not sure if you are like me but there is something exciting, if not thrilling, about organising a large-scale event in just three weeks.
I am sure many of us would love a budget of £14,000 to deliver a church event. But doing it without that budget is the kind of challenge that sadly appeals to me and I am sure other church administrators and managers.
For many churches, this season has been a year of cancelled events. We have had to adapt and change the way we deliver many of our services, our discipleship programmes and small groups so that they can take place online. It was the first time in my 17 years as a church administrator that we have had an underspend in our outreach and events budget. But the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine programme brings the hope of restarting in-person events. With that in mind, here are 10 Top Tips to organising our church events this year.
1. Clearly identify the event goal and identify some desired outcomes.
2. Put together an event planning team, making use of the gifting and skills of church members.
3. Together with your event planning team, organise and develop an event outline, identifying all the different aspects required including the venue, catering, speakers, support staff and advertising.
4. Work out a budget, and assign specific roles and responsibilities to each member of the event planning team.
5. Communicate your event to your audience, thinking about the best methods available to get the word out there.
6. Take the time to manage the event planning roles and develop action points. Establish key deadlines leading up to the event.
7. Review your budget, how can you be creative and resourceful?
8. Finalise an implementation plan, I like to put this down on paper, outlining a minute-by-minute running order and who is delivering each aspect.
9. SMILE IT’S EVENT DAY! Make quality the key ingredient of everything that you do. Take the time to pray and ask God to give you much grace and strength to deliver all that you have planned.
10. Finally, remember to take the time to encourage and thank all those involved!
After event day, review and evaluate the event against the desired outcomes and work out if there are any changes or improvements needed so that your next event runs even better.
