You Might Need a Preaching Calendar If…

I once preached what I considered to be a pretty challenging message on divorce. The title was "Keeping Your Vows in a World that Breaks its Promises." I figured if I was going to get up and talk about such a sensitive issue I wanted to be able to anticipate some of the objections, biases and competing priorities that my congregation might have. My goal not only was to preach boldly, but to be compassionate, as well. I pulled together a group of couples in their 20s and 30s. Some of them were on their first marriage; for some, it was their second marriage; others were about to be married.

I prepared a series of open-ended questions that pertained to the sermon subject, then I let the recorder run. I asked questions such as, "What should a sermon on keeping your marriage vows in a divorce culture say?" The feedback I received was invaluable. I had studied the relevant biblical texts, and they helped me to study my audience so I could speak about this topic with relevance.

Use a Creative Team. Once you know what texts, topics and ideas you will be preaching about, consider using a creative team to help you brand each series and creatively promote and execute it. Once the series has been given a name, it can be promoted using banners, bulletins, posters and on your church Website. The creative team also will help you with illustrations that utilize visual media, drama and any other methods that help you communicate effectively and clearly. Creativity takes time; but with the right people assisting, you will be able to maximize the visibility and effectiveness of your sermon series.

I meet with my staff once a quarter expressly for a Brainstorming Saturday. We pray, eat, laugh and plan our church calendar. Most important, I vision cast about the upcoming sermon series and the direction of the church. We come up with a series title and some images that will be used in the promotion of it.

Throughout the week, I meet with a group of church members who serve as my official creative team. They consist of a Bible college student, someone employed in advertising and a student filmmaker. I give them the quarterly preaching calendar, which includes the main idea of the text, main idea of my sermon and the specific objective I want the sermon to accomplish in the lives of my audience.

We spend the first half of the meeting reviewing the prior service (what went well and what could have been done better). The remainder of the time is spent planning the upcoming service. The more elaborate the illustrations, the more advanced planning is necessary. If we have done something really involved the week prior, the following sermon will be a little more stripped down and not utilize much in the way of visuals.

My goal is not to outdo myself Sunday after to Sunday, but to communicate effectively. The creativity then, is not an end in itself, but instead serves the series in order to make it as interesting and memorable as possible. This is also a time saver because it takes the load off the preacher to come up with and prepare all of the illustrations.

The Holy Spirit and Planning

Do not underestimate the Holy Spirit's ability to lead you in the planning of your preaching calendar. We should not just depend on His presence during the preaching of the message as He certainly can give us wisdom as we schedule our preaching calendar.

We have to be reminded God has called us to love and serve Him with everything we are, and this includes our minds. It takes hard work to think about what a group needs and how best to communicate that to the group. It takes effort to prepare something in advance that you will preach about and make it worth showing up on a Sunday morning to hear.

Preaching plans, like all plans, are projections that are made on the best information you have at the time. Like all plans, if it needs to be revised because of unforeseen interruptions, then do so.