Bringing the Community Together: Tips for Hosting a Successful Church Event

Hosting a church event is stressful, from getting supplies to a million things going wrong on the day of the event. Sometimes it can feel like you are running around like a chicken with its head cut off. You feel so stressed that you don’t relax until after the event is over. Here are 4 simple, stress-free steps to help you create successful church events that help you bring your community together.

Plan

Trying to host a church event without a plan is like jumping into a pool of stress and frustration. Your event will not be successful because you are doing things at random. For example, if you are planning a movie night, you may buy 5 bags of candy when you only need 2 or you may forget to buy the movie.

Planning provides clarity. It’s the road map that clearly lays out what you need to do to have a successful event. Planning also gives you an idea of how long the event will last and where you will hold the event. You can determine the cost of the event and how much help you need to set up the event.

A plan can also help you create realistic ideas for your event. Sometimes we have big ideas that aren’t realistic. For example, you may have an idea to bring in a famous speaker whose rate is $500 per hour. Your budget is only $200. This is an unrealistic idea. 

You will either have to ask for donations, host separate events like bake sales to raise funds, or use your personal funds. Even if you come up with the money, you may still have to spend money on accommodations for the speaker and refreshments for the audience.

This is why planning is so important. Planning helps you gather your ideas. You can decide which ideas are worth keeping and which ideas to scrap. 

Delegate

Delegation comes naturally to some people. But for others, it’s a struggle. A lack of control over the specifics of the event or not trusting people to do their tasks the way you want them to can cause people to do everything themselves.

However, delegation is necessary when it comes to planning an event. Trying to do everything by yourself is like asking for trouble. You will run yourself ragged trying to get everything in place, and you will probably forget a few vital aspects of your event, like the tacos for Taco Tuesday.

Over time, this can lead to burnout. Your excitement levels for planning church events will decline, and when you get asked to plan more events, you will be frustrated, stressed, or angry because you are doing everything by yourself.

It’s better to enlist the help of others. All this may seem daunting, but all you have to do is write a list of all the tasks you need to accomplish before, during, and after the event. Your list may include buying and preparing the food, serving it, and cleaning the kitchen after the event.

Think of 2 people you can ask to do some of these tasks. If the first person says no, do not offended. Respect their no and ask the other person you thought of to do the job.

Don’t forget to assign yourself some tasks. Delegation does not mean letting others do all the work while you do nothing. Yes, delegation means giving another person a job to perform for you. However, if you assign all the tasks to others while you sit back and relax, people may be less helpful in the future.

Ultimately, delegating will help you evenly share the load so no one person has to tire themself out trying to do everything on their own.

Execute

Once you have planned and delegated, it’s time to execute. Execution seems easy, but for the person planning the event, it can be the hardest thing. It means trusting the people you assigned jobs to carry out the tasks responsibly.

This is why you need to assign yourself jobs instead of hovering over others while they do their tasks. Focusing on your tasks helps you let go of control and prevents you from acting like a helicopter mom. There is nothing wrong with checking in a few times.

However, hovering can make the person feel uncomfortable. They will think you don’t trust them enough to perform the tasks, which could lead to anger and frustration. More importantly, they won’t volunteer their time and services in the future.

Remember, you need their help to put on an event. So don’t hover over people like they are little children. Trust them to do the job like you asked them to. If they don’t talk to them about it after the event or find another person to help them in the future.

Relax

You planned the event, delegated, and executed everything on your to-do list. Now comes the hard part, enjoying the event. While the event is happening, you will be too fixated on what’s happening in the background that you won’t be able to relax and enjoy the church event.

You will miss out on key factors of the event, like networking with sponsors to increase donations or building partnerships. This is why you need to let go of control. Trust the people you asked to do their jobs so you can enjoy the event. Talk with your peers or network. You have set up the church event and asked for help  so you do not need to constantly check on your helpers. 

Planning church events is not easy. It’s stressful. However, as long as you plan, delegate, execute, and relax, your event will go off without a hitch.