For a practical guide to writing one that gets read, see our church annual report guide.
For practical help writing a newsletter your congregation will actually read, see our church newsletter guide for small churches.
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By Brent Lacy
Most small churches plan reactively. Something comes up, someone has an idea, and the church scrambles to respond. Events are announced two weeks in advance. Volunteers are recruited at the last minute. The pastor is always behind.
Annual planning changes this. When you plan your church year in advance, you can prepare properly, recruit volunteers early, communicate clearly, and lead from a position of intention rather than reaction.
Here is how to build a simple annual planning process for a small church.
When to Plan
The best time to plan the church year is August or September, before the fall ministry season begins. This gives you time to recruit volunteers, communicate with the congregation, and prepare for the events and programs you have planned.
Some churches do their annual planning in January. This works too, but it means you are planning the year after it has already started. August or September is better.
Who Should Be Involved
Annual planning should involve the pastor, the deacons or elders, and the leaders of major ministries. Keep the group small enough to make decisions. A planning session with 15 people produces a lot of conversation and very few decisions. A planning session with five to seven people produces a plan.
The Annual Planning Process
Step 1: Review the past year. (30 minutes)
What worked? What did not? What events and programs produced fruit? What consumed resources without producing results? Be honest. This review informs the decisions you make for the coming year.
Step 2: Identify the priorities. (30 minutes)
What are the two or three most important things your church needs to accomplish in the coming year? These priorities should drive your calendar. Everything else is secondary.
Step 3: Build the calendar. (60 minutes)
Working month by month, place the following on the calendar:
- Recurring events: Sunday services, small groups, regular ministry programs
- Seasonal events: VBS, Easter egg hunt, fall festival, Christmas events
- Outreach events: community meals, back-to-school giveaway, trunk-or-treat
- Church business: annual meeting, budget approval, leadership elections
- Pastoral milestones: pastor’s anniversary, staff reviews, sabbatical
- Community events: school calendar, local festivals, agricultural seasons
Step 4: Assign leadership. (30 minutes)
For every event on the calendar, identify who is responsible for leading it. An event without a leader is an event that will not happen well. Assign leadership before you leave the planning session.
Step 5: Communicate the calendar. (30 minutes)
Share the annual calendar with the congregation. Post it on the website. Include it in the newsletter. Give people a printed copy. When people know what is coming, they can plan their lives around it and recruit others to participate.
The Preaching Calendar
The preaching calendar is the most important planning document in a small church. When the pastor knows what they are preaching three to four months in advance, everything else in the church can align with it: worship songs, small group curriculum, outreach events, and seasonal emphases.
See the Sermon Prep for Bi-Vocational Pastors guide for a simple system for building a preaching calendar.
Staying Flexible
Annual planning is not a rigid commitment. It is a framework. When unexpected opportunities arise, when circumstances change, when God opens a door you did not anticipate, be willing to adjust the plan.
The goal of annual planning is not to control the future. It is to be intentional about the future so that you are leading rather than reacting.
Free Resource: Church Leadership Resources
MinistryPlace offers free church planning guides, annual calendar templates, and leadership resources for small churches.
MinistryPlace has a full library of free resources for small and rural churches. No email required, no subscription, no catch.
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