Giving youth pastors the tools they need to make and shape disciples.

Before You Put It On The Calendar, Ask These 6 Questions Part 2

This is part 2 of my series Before You Put It On The Calendar, you can read part 1 here.

In this post I want to talk about the second question you should ask before you put that event on the youth calendar…

Does This Event Conflict with Other Church Ministries?

It’s essential to check with other ministries within your church to avoid scheduling clashes.

This prevents 3 things from happening.

Resource Conflicts

Competing events could strain shared resources like volunteers, equipment, and facilities. I can’t tell you how many times I would plan an event and think of everything but the church calendar and who was using what room and when.

Rooms are not the only thing you have to consider. If you serve in a church, like many of the churches I’ve served in, there is only one van and the one who can get there events on the calendar first can claim it.

Booking rooms and vehicles are like a battle royal in that all support ministries enter the calendar octagon but only one emerges the winner. To get your kids to that amusement park you must emerge victorious or face the shame of having to call parents to drive.

Confusion

Back in the day, I had to give out printed calendars. Once those calendars were out, they were out in the wild. If I had to change date, I had to redo the calendar, pass out all the new calendars or flyers and start the marketing process all over.

With social media, it’s much easier to change a graphic than change a clipart calendar or flyer but it also takes the news of your event further fasters. Bad dates and info can get in someone’s head and, because of the algorithm, your intended audience may never see your corrected information.

Ministry Disruption

Conflicting schedules can disrupt the flow of other ministries’ work, including yours.

What’s worse than your event failing? Grabbing attention of every other ministry, and your pastor, for being incompetent. Everyone is happy to support you until you mess up their plans. I’m not talking about getting your event on the calendar first or winning the battle royal for the can, I am talking about not doing the prep work of crossing t’s and dotting i’s and filling our the proper paper work that may be needed to secure all the things you need.

There’s nothing worse than inconveniencing another ministry because then blame is awarded and favors are owed. Stay away from the disruption field of unpreparedness.

Coordination is only half the battle. Coordination is doing YOUR PART to achieve a team goal. This is an individual goal.

Ex: What will everyone bring to the Mexican Fiesta themed party?

Answer: I will bring chips for the Mexican Fiesta themed meeting.

You bring the chips. Mission accomplished.

Collaboration, on the other hand, is working well with others to achieve a team goal.

Ex: Can you, Robert and Denise come up with some games for the Mexican Fiesta?

Answer: We will get a text thread going, bounce ideas and assign who gets what games.

Games are assign. Games are played. Mission accomplished.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is a success.” – Henry Ford

The measure of good calendar development doesn’t end with “I did everything I was supposed to do”. The real measure of success is “how well did I do everything I was supposed to do while collaborating well with others”.

I have a live Before You Put It On The Calendar webinar coming up Thursday December 5th, 2024 at 8pm CST. If you need help planning in 2025, this is for you!! Bring all the questionsRegister here ⬅️

If you are interested in more youth ministry calendar, event and meeting planning ideas, I recommend My Youth Ministry Playbook that is packed with calendars, articles, guides and worksheets.

If you want articles like this in your inbox, sign up for my newsletter and receive the Before You Put It On Your Calendar Worksheet to kickstart your planning process. The worksheet also includes 17+ brainstorming ideas. You’ll also receive weekly encouragement, articles, videos and more.

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