Free Event on Sept 21 in Midlothian, TX

I’m so excited about the event I’m producing called A Night of Vulnerable Christianity.

This started out as a book launch event but has turned into so much more.

I've invited a group of speakers to come present on the importance of vulnerability in the life of the church. I wanted to cram a whole conference into one night.

It's totally free but you've got to reserve your spot because space is limited!

You're going to want to hurry, too. This event WILL sell out.

Get tickets

SPEAKERS

Taylor Johnson, comedian (and now) author

Dr. Garland Owensby, youth and student ministries professor at SAGU and stand-up comedian

Peter Pinion, licensed professional counselor

Clayton Brooks, worship pastor of The Oaks Church in Red Oak, TX

Andrew Lawhon, associate pastor at Freedom Church in Carrollton, TX

Seth Urbina, former missionary to Bolivia

Dani Barrera, singer and entertainer

The Sad Truth About Church Events

“Every project wants to fall apart and every project wants to be bad. They have two instincts that you’re always fighting against. Make it better. Hold it together.”

When Nina Jacobson said this on the Without Fail podcast she was describing her job as a film producer but THIS IS UNIVERSAL.

Every church event WANTS to fall apart. I used to think all I had to do to make a successful outreach was to put it on the calendar and post about it on social media. That might not be the dumbest thought I ever had but it’s up there (when I was little I thought I could trick my friends into thinking I was the star of Home Alone).

Think about it like your big event is actively working against you. That'll keep you on your toes. You can’t afford to assume anything. Volunteers will drop out, people won’t pay attention to social media and completely miss the announcements, and it’s probably going to rain.

I’m really bad about assuming too much. I assume people know things without me ever communicating them. I assume things are possible without checking ahead of time. 

You have to make sure you have enough time to develop, plan, and prepare this event.

You need a team who can handle some of the responsibility because it’s easier for a big event monster to defeat you when you try to tackle it on your own. With a team you can attack from all sides.

If it’s the first year you’re doing this big outreach event, imagine it’s a baby. You wouldn’t throw some clothes into a baby's room and expect them to get dressed and ready on their own. You’ve got to be hands on. If you’ve been doing an event for 5 years, you can probably treat it like a 5 year old. They’re able to do a lot for themselves but they still need some supervision. If you’ve been doing the same event for 18 years, maybe it’s time to kick them out of the house and try something new.

Every event is trying to fall apart. If we go with the baby analogy, every event wants to poop its pants and throw up all over your nice clothes and ruin your plans.

If we believe in our event we’re willing to fight the good fight, get our hands dirty, and make sure it’s a success.

Want to make sure you believe in your event? Here are 3 questions to ask in the planning stage.

3 Questions About The Comedy Outreach Event

In a previous post I shared 3 questions to ask when planning your next church event. I thought I’d answer them about my 3 night comedy outreach event.

Why this?

It is a totally unique approach to outreach. We’ve never done anything like this before and it’s important to try new things.

We all know people who are closed off when you invite them to a church service but they might be more open to an invitation to a free comedy show.

It’s an event the whole church can get behind, bringing together youth and adults.

It’s be a great way to open conversations within the church about vulnerability and the importance of being open and honest about what’s going on in your life and it’ll train the congregation on how to be there for each other and bear each others burdens.

It’s an event that tackles heavy issues in a way that doesn’t feel scary or intimidating. The laughter makes it all more approachable.

Why here?

If we want to see growth, discipleship, and stronger community in our church we need to start with an emphasis on confession. Community is built when our walls come down and we let people in to our lives and see us for who we are, mess and all.

If we want people to know Jesus can pull them out of the darkness of their struggles, first they need to know it’s ok for them to admit they’re struggling in the first place.

Why now?

This one depends on when you want to schedule the event.

Maybe you’re wanting to relaunch small groups and this could be a great event to get people plugged in. Maybe it’s in the Spring and you want to have a big exciting event to announce to all the new people who show up on Easter Sunday.

You know what God is doing in your church this year. You know the best place for an event like this to fit in.

I really believe in this event. It’s the most effective way I partner with churches for comedy shows. I’d love to be a part of what you’re doing in your community.

To book an event, contact me.

3 Questions When Planning Your Church Event

I’m reading Chris Gethard’s new book Lose Well. In one chapter he gives the three questions he asks himself whenever starting a new creative venture.

WHY THIS?

WHY HERE?

WHY NOW?

If he’s able to come up with clear and specific answers to all three, he trusts that it must be thought through enough to pursue.

If I can’t explain why a thing is necessary in this time and place as its creator, I assume anyone asked to consume it will be confused as well.

The same is true with church events. Do you want people to come on board as volunteers and help make it happen? Do you want people to attend the event and invite people to join them? You need to have strong answers to those 3 questions.

If you’re not there yet, that’s ok. It doesn’t mean you scrap the idea all together. Maybe you just need to flesh it out or move some elements around until it fully clicks for you.

You’re the first person you have to convince that the event is going to be worth it.

Some times I’m afraid we’re too easy on our ideas. It’s not enough to think to yourself “Yeah. Sure. I guess that could be good. We need something on the calendar and I can’t think of anything else. Let’s go with that.”

We need to answer those questions. And when things get hard and we reach those moments where we realize just how much work it’s going to take to pull it off, we can look back at our answers to motivate us to keep going. “This is worth it. This is worth it.”

I’ve also answered these questions about my 3 night comedy outreach event.

3 Reasons to Evaluate Church Events

Earlier I asked if your church evaluates big events. Here are 3 reasons why an evaluation meeting can be so important.

WE GAIN PERSPECTIVE 

It might not be until you’re in a meeting with your team, hearing everyone’s experience at the event, that you realize not a single person noticed the little mistakes you’ve been kicking yourself over all week. You’ve been so zoomed in you didn’t notice how successful the big picture was!

WE CAN CELEBRATE EACH OTHER 

So often in ministry, the moment an event is over we’re focused on what’s next. It’s important to take a moment, pause, share our wins, our stories, and encouragement with each other.

WE CAN MAKE OUR NEXT EVENT EVEN BETTER 

What did we learn? What did we try this time that we want to change for next time? If we don’t look at it now, we’re dooming ourselves to repeating it next time.

How do you evaluate big events?

If you’re looking for something easy to use I have a simple EVENT EVALUATION GUIDE that can help give some direction as you take notes and unpack your latest event.

Hey Pastors, How Was Easter?

When I think about planning big events for the church, two quotes come to mind:

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

It’s so important to unpack and evaluate an event in the weeks after it’s all over.

There’s so much we can learn from every event we do. It can shape and influence the next outreach or conference on the calendar. It can completely change how you approach the same event next year.

For most of us the dust just settled from Easter.

How’d it go?

The whole thing is still fresh in our minds so it’s the perfect time to sit down with our team and evaluate the whole thing.

I’ve been working on resources for churches who bring me in for big events and one of the things I wanted to create was super simple EVALUATION GUIDE that can help give some direction as you walk through the details of your last event.

It's simple and barebones on purpose. I just wanted to make an easy guide for when you meet with leaders to talk through how things went.