Your planning pillars shouldn’t be a surprise

Christmas and Easter. The incarnation and the resurrection of Jesus.

This is what your church or ministry calendar should circle around.

This isn’t a groundbreaking revelation.

But, the reason I mention it is that - if you don’t do it - you tend to look rather foolish when you misalign your themes or events with the pillars of the church calendar.

When you’re examining a gospel and your misalign the start or end it is obvious.

To those aware of the liturgical calendar, it’s quite annoying.

Why?

Because it shows a lack of adequate planing.

It exposes a lack of forethought.

If you sketch things out - even roughly - 12, 8 or 6 months in advance, then you should be able to match up what you are studying/teaching/preaching about with the primary festivals of the faith.

Worse still, it gets dreadfully exposed if there are some parts of the church who do seek to have their events match Christmas and Easter.

Finally, your folly is exposed even more if, once the two central celebrations do roll around, you directly reference them in detail (which you should!), you’ll be cycling back or jumping forward a few weeks from the rhythm that you yourself have established.