How Doing Fewer Events Is Helping Our Church Do Better Ministry

No one is running around our church, setting up activities today. Even though it’s October 31 as I write this, we’re not decorating our cars, prepping games in our classrooms, or cooking food in our kitchen. Because this year, for the first time in many years, we’re not doing a Trunk-Or-Treat Halloween alternative. And we’re doing better ministry to children because of it. This isn’t an anti-Halloween rant. If your church does something like Trunk-Or-Treat, that’s great! We might do it again next year. But this year we’re in a strip-it-down-and-rebuild-it mode.

October 31, 2017

by Karl Vaters

No one is running around our church, setting up activities today.

Even though it’s October 31 as I write this, we’re not decorating our cars, prepping games in our classrooms, or cooking food in our kitchen.

Because this year, for the first time in many years, we’re not doing a Trunk-Or-Treat Halloween alternative. And we’re doing better ministry to children because of it.

This isn’t an anti-Halloween rant. If your church does something like Trunk-Or-Treat, that’s great! We might do it again next year.

But this year we’re in a strip-it-down-and-rebuild-it mode.

Author

Karl Vaters

Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.
He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.
Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast,The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.

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