The rest of the year
Christmas is coming! But what about the rest of the year?
My five-year-old loves to utter the statement, “Raise your hand if . . .” and then reel off a list of possibilities that may require our family to raise our hand as it applies to us. So, in the spirit of playful inquiry, I say: “Raise your hand if . . .”
- You feel tired at the end of the Christmas ministry season.
- You’re excited about a new teaching series to launch into come January.
- You look at the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s and agonize regarding what to do with this service and wonder if there will be anyone available to help serve or even attend!
If you raised your hand for any of those reasons, you are not alone.
When I served as a pastor, I liked rhythms, structure, and became giddy whenever a teaching series perfectly aligned with the calendar. I believe that Christmas and Advent warrant an intentional focus and pause from a church’s year-long exegetical study or recent topical series. Likewise, the new year is a natural time to begin a new sermon series or simply recap where you left off with the existing one. But no matter how you slice it, there is always a standalone weekend that does not seem to fit within the church calendar. What can be done with the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s Day? As exhaustion sets in, how do you muster the creative energy for this misfit Sunday?
The post-Christmas weekend
Weekly preparation for church services is a major undertaking on the “regular” weeks when there is a full slate of staff and volunteers to help. Now factor in a week when volunteers, staff and congregants are scarce. We all need time to be with our families, travel, and sleep off the turkey and sugar crashes. Plus, there is the much-needed recovery from a full season of planning and running Christmas services, parties and events (within and outside of church life). Running on fumes as you prepare a service for this post-Christmas weekend and scrambling for volunteers to help run it can feel like trying to cram that square peg into the round hole. This requires a lot of energy, and you are left wondering whether the outcome is worth the effort.
Pastor, I know you are tired and so is most of your church. With that in mind, prayerfully consider asking your board, your team, your family, yourself and ultimately God, “How can I/we steward this unique weekend in the church calendar in a manner that will bless our congregation, restore our soul, mind, heart and strength, and glorify God?” Is there rest to be found in putting aside the square peg and instead using a round one?
Advice for doing something different
Drawing from observations throughout decades of church involvement as a lead pastor, a youth pastor and a volunteer, below are a few suggestions that may aid in stewarding this weekend and will bless your congregation in the process. As you consider the options, I encourage you to draw from these tips which may help you and your congregation REST while also preparing something meaningful:
- Rely on as few of your staff or regular volunteers as possible. This isn’t about monopolizing control; rather, it’s an opportunity to release your team from more tasks. They need a break and will thank you for it!
- Empower the congregation. Highlight accessible opportunities for people to express their faith and point out ways they can mature spiritually by leading themselves and their families.
- Step outside of the box. Get creative but keep it simple as sometimes less is more. People learn and engage through various means, so take advantage of this unique weekend to experiment with new learning strategies.
- Trust the Holy Spirit to guide you. Prayerfully seek God’s leading.
Here are some options that I have either gleaned from others or facilitated in my local church context (note: you may need to modify for your own context):
- Popcorn Scripture reading: In place of a sermon, simply invite the congregation to come with their Bibles and read a Scripture passage that has played a significant role in encouraging them throughout the past year (no explanation needed). Testimonies are powerful, and by limiting the sharing content to God’s Word, it relieves you of the task to screen every person’s sharing. Tip: Appoint someone to record the reference for every passage shared and give the list to the church. It is a powerful experience to hear God’s Word read as it provides a snapshot of the lives of your congregants. It’s also your way of giving God’s Word the final word of the year. (Hebrews 4:1-12; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
- Recap the year: Rather than preach, look back on the highlights of how God has been at work within your congregation. What prayers have been answered? How has God made himself known? What celebratory changes have happened within the body of Christ (e.g., baptisms, membership, new faces)? Ask a few people who don’t normally share to give brief testimony to how they’ve experienced God at work in their lives and in the life of the church. (Revelation 12:11)
- End the year with praise: For the more traditional congregations, ask a dedicated pianist to be ready and then open it up for people to request a song/hymn. (Psalm 148:11-13; Psalm 150)
- Create a take-home resource that people can go through with their household, small group or on their own. This provides an equipping opportunity for people to grow in spiritual leadership for their household, and it creates an accessible avenue to intentionally pause and turn their attention to God. Do this either in lieu of a weekend service or as an additional resource (depending on your context). (Ephesians 4:11-16)
- Open your facility for the typical service hours but for a focus on prayer. Invite people to come and write a prayer or praise item for the church to display in a visible spot. Make it the first thing many people will see as they return in the new year. (Isaiah 65:24; Jeremiah 29:12-13; 1 John 5:14)
- Cancel the service altogether: Emphasize the practice of Sabbath and invite your entire congregation to be still, rest and delight in God’s presence in simple and unhurried ways. You can also provide resources ahead of time or recommend an insightful book about Sabbath. (Exodus 20:8-11; Mark 2:23-28; Matthew 11:28-30)
The value of rest
By the end of the year, you are tired and so is your church. I hope these suggestions can be a fresh take to implement on a unique weekend in the church calendar and will provide your physical body, your soul and the body of Christ with necessary rest for the rest of the year.
If you or someone on your pastoral staff, your supported missionaries or those you know who serve in parachurch organizations need more comprehensive deep rest, check out Focus on the Family’s Kerith Ministry Leader Retreats. We have three luxurious and peaceful locations (Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario) staffed by seasoned ministry leaders to serve you.
Thank you, pastors, for all that you do. Now, raise your hand if you’re looking forward to the rest of the year.
Steve Klassen is Executive Director of Kerith Retreats at Focus on the Family Canada. For more information about our retreats, visit KerithRetreats.ca.