Church Programming: More Sprint, Less Marathon

Church program years start in the fall, so summer is crunch time for planning. Try a new paradigm this year: shorter durations, per church consultant Ken Callahan. Church programming tempo is a relic from agrarian and industrial cultures, whose mindset was "marathon." The programming they thought of and attended was for the long haul. Today's technological culture has a "sprinter" marathon, and prefers the short-term dashes. Churches still schedule and program for the marathon mindset. Most of our events are weekly/monthly/year-round.

This puts us increasingly out of step with the sprinter mindset prevalent today. Seven of ten kids today are sprinters. So are most people moving into our church fields! To help your older marathon generation see why we must transition to sprinter programming, ask about their grandchildren. Their fun times and best memories with their grandkids are the one-time events, not the repetetive things. My two oldest and I will never forget our Friday evening at the K.C. Royals baseball game; it was thirty-five degrees, but we were on the front row behind first base!

Callahan says two-thirds of church events should be one-time or seasonal. About a fourth of our events (and most courses and sermon series) should be short-terms of 3-5 sessions. Anything over five times is long-term, so limit these to a tenth of your events, which leaves under five percent of events for weekly, monthly or year-round.

Semantics can help your transition from marathon to sprinter programming. Even for ongoing events, treat each session like a one-time event. Make it stand on it's on, so people who missed the last one won't feel left out, and those who can't come next time won't feel left behind. Sermon series are okay (with many strategic advantages), but promote and preach each message with its on topic and title.