FEATURE THE "BIG EVENT"

Perhaps the two biggest events in the calendar of any (Christian) church, are Easter and Christmas.

It is not coincidental therefore that these observances, as well as the Sundays closely leading up to them, are the most well-attended

of the church year.

We examined earlier in this series the importance of anticipation,optimism, and hope in building a great church.

People love to anticipate things. They look ahead to specialmilestones and events in their lives.

On a daily basis, some "look forward" to the end of the work day,or the school day, or the week.

The fastest-growing and most successful churches always have "something on the docket". There is always something being planned, something upcoming, something happening to prepare and

look forward to.

These activities give energy to the church. They give ways forpeople to participate, and to give of themselves, their time and their talents.

All of this may seem rather chaotic to some. Not at all.

If there is chaos in the blend of activity, either the activities are too divergent and not very well focussed on the purpose and mission of the church, or the leaders are unfocussed or unskilled

in the art of leadership.

Planning and preparation take time, and some level of skill. It does no one any good to wait until the last moment, two weeks or two days before an "event", to begin planning.

A series of events should be planned out in advance - at least a year (or more) ahead of time. Committees and leaders for the events should be recruited and organized several months in advance of the event.

By the time the last "big event" has concluded, the next should be in it's final stages of preparation, ready to go in a few weeks.