[00:00:00] I want to make sure that from upfront, I am permission giving for people who maybe they aren't all the way there with Jesus, but they're showing up to church. I want to remember to be mindful to do that. And the way that looks for me, and again, we talked about this before, you do something similar, is I'll find ways in the service. Sometimes it's transitional times. Sometimes it's even during the sermon, I'll be like, hey. And I know that maybe not everyone in the room, maybe you're not there yet with Jesus. I want to say I'm glad you're here.
[00:00:28] Back to school, back to football, back to church. The fall season always feels like a reset after the rhythm of summer. And it's a time when people in your community are actually looking to engage with or discover church again. So what can you do to make sure you're ready? Here are 10 Quick Tips to Maximize Your Fall Ministry. That's today on The Reclaimed Leader. Welcome to The Reclaimed Leader Podcast. I'm Jason Tucker. And I'm Jesse Skiffington.
[00:00:58] We're two pastors in the trenches who are passionate about church health for greater gospel impact. We share the ups and downs of ministry, strategies that work for us. And some that didn't. Best practices and practical tools for church leadership. The goal? To help all of our churches flourish. Let's get started. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The Reclaimed Leader Podcast. We are back live after we just had an episode. We did a replay episode last week.
[00:01:27] A really, really great one. Karl Vaters and How Do You Have a Healthy Church of Any Size? Yeah. Which is just so perfect and timely. We felt like at the end of the summer, kind of putting in a couple of these replays that are really timely. So next week, we're going to do another replay of Greg Atkinson talking about guest services. And that first seven minutes people are on your campus and the decisions that they're making and how to make it more welcoming.
[00:01:54] I feel like now's the time, Jesse, where we're thinking about all this stuff. Let's point back to people that know what they're talking about. That's right. I'm down to you. Only so much Jason and Jesse before we have to have a guest come and make sure our people are listening in. You have great tools. So anyway, no, Carl, Greg, awesome. So much fun and good listens back. I mean, just good reminders for me and us as we're kind of moving toward the fall and all of that. And anyway, yeah, good to be with Jason. Good to be with all of our listeners.
[00:02:23] I know I'm kind of giving some shout outs lately. You know, it's been fun to hear from people and get to engage with some of the folks that are part of this little reclaimed leader lane that we've been walking in for 458 episodes. That's crazy. Yeah. It's crazy. I am marveled every time we look at the number. I'm just like, how in the world are we still doing this? But hopefully it's helping. I mean, that's the whole point.
[00:02:50] And, you know, for us as leaders, getting to talk shop about what's going on in our churches is so just invaluable and mission critical.
[00:02:59] Again, I've said this probably 457 times, but I would not be the pastor I am if this weren't front of mind every week talking about leadership because there's just so many challenges and so many possible obstacles to get me discouraged or to send me off track or spend sideways energy. So this is something just important for all of us as leaders that we just keep it front of mind. Totally. And there's an equipping aspect to that. Right.
[00:03:27] We need to kind of get tools and resources and hear from people that are doing great work. But then there's like the camaraderie aspect of just church leadership. Right. Yeah. I think it was our second episode. We had Bob very first. Bob Whitesell. And it was about, you know, kind of church strategy and how to get into the weeds and make sure you're moving in the right direction. The second one was, I think, Jim Mead. Is that right? I think you're right. Yeah. Yeah. And Jim said, if you lead well, in other words, if you do the stuff Bob said we should be doing, you will have the scars to prove it.
[00:03:57] If you lead well in the church, it comes at a cost. And I think that's where we really need each other to encourage each other, lift each other up, say you're doing the right stuff, keep going, praying for you, rooting for you. And we're in the trenches, man. We call it that for a reason. And ministry is good. It's so much better when we do it together, as we always say. And it's hard, but it's worth it. And it comes at a cost sometimes, but, you know, we're going to keep going because we're called. I mean, that's it. And the challenges don't stop.
[00:04:27] So, for example, right now we have two big staff positions that are open. And in the meantime, you know, I'm having to cover and do all the things. It's very stressful. Capital campaign on the horizon. We're putting that together now. You know, there's just so many things we've got to figure out. Yeah. Incidentally, if you want to work at Tower Hill or Marine View, now's your time. I'm like, Jason, you can't.
[00:04:56] I've got openings, too. So don't steal everybody. Anybody want to come east? You know. Yeah. Anybody want to come west? You know, feel free. But yeah, it was funny. The other day I sat down and I was going through all of our groups. We have a transition at our associate pastor level and charge of all of our small groups and community groups. And so I was organizing our groups and meeting with our leaders and creating the small groups catalog again with some help from other staff. And I was like, I haven't been in this level of detail in a long time.
[00:05:24] And I kind of like it for about three days. So let's, you know, it was like, yeah, I mean, you're always there's always another challenge, another thing. And and here we are. We're on the horizon. Right. Come bumping up against the fall. I mean, some of our churches were already in the fall because school schedules and that kind of stuff. So we're talking how to maximize fall ministry.
[00:05:46] We're going to be covering some ground that we've covered before, but really crucial stuff just to keep on our minds and on our radar as we're heading into, you know, kind of the beginning of a new ministry season and all of that. So these are quick tips, 10 of them. And they are as much reminders for you and I, Jason, as for everybody else. So honestly, this is my list that I put together for me. Yeah, it's just 10 things I was thinking about that I want to make sure I'm paying attention to and that our team is paying attention to.
[00:06:14] So I figured I would just share it with everybody else. And hopefully it's helpful. Yeah, I love it. So let's jump right in. I number one, the thing that I'm sort of always on my mind, we're just finishing up a sermon series and I've gone back and forth on what to do. But preaching, what do we want our fall calendar of preaching to look like? And the questions that we ask around that are, where do we perceive the people to be at? But what sort of preaching series? Because we're almost always in a series.
[00:06:43] Most of the 99% of the time we're in a series. So what does that look like for what's next? Do we need something more topical and highly practical? Do we want to go through a book of the Bible? These are all things that we have to figure out. But on the front end, September, it's not the time where we get the most guests, interestingly.
[00:07:08] But it is a time that people are kind of coming back after the summer. Yeah. And it's the time when our people are, it's either September or May, are in competition for each other. It's the times when the people are most stressed out by their calendars. Yeah, for sure. Because, you know, the start of the new school year, kids going a million directions, all the things. I can't even tell you, Jesse, just as an aside. Help me understand. Why are schools?
[00:07:37] I mean, the high school sends us probably 15 emails a week. I'm like, you could send us one with everything on it. I just can't keep track. And that, anyway. It's a lot. It's true. It's true in work. It's true everywhere. It's just emails, emails everywhere is the bane of my existence. But it's a stress point.
[00:08:00] So preaching-wise, we're thinking we usually do something of kind of getting back into the groove, you know, from rut to rhythm. Something to do that. We're just coming off. We did James. Took the whole summer and just took James slowly. Yeah. And all I can say about preaching through James, it's five chapters. I'm glad it's not six. That is eight. That is eight. It's dense, man. I mean, 16-something commands in there, right? That's a punch in the face, man.
[00:08:29] It's good, but man, it is a heart. Very convicting. Yeah, for sure. So preaching, that's one too. I don't know, Jesse, if you have already got that calendar down. Yeah. Sometimes I'm way ahead. I try to think six-ish months ahead because, you know, then you get more time for prep and more room for the spirit to kind of say, no, this is the other direction you should go instead. But this time I'm kind of with you. I am looking for that in a time of high transition for our staff and, you know, just getting into the fall. It's like, what's the appropriate kind of theme?
[00:08:58] So we're going to be preaching on the nature of change, the everlastingness and unchangingness of God and changing circumstances. And so we're going to do that for our September series. We're only going to do three weeks, though, because of Labor Day. So we've been doing Summer in the Psalms, which I'm sure many of you have done over the years. And I've just loved preaching the Psalms this year. It's just been so good. So we're coming out of that series into just a three-week series on change.
[00:09:25] How do, you know, what do we do in the face of change and how we trust God in the midst of things that we can't see or haven't experienced yet, that kind of stuff. Because it's where we are as a church and it's also a season of change for folks. But then in October, November, I don't know yet. That's very rare. And so I was just talking to my summer and prep group. I was like, be praying about what does God want us to be looking at in his word in the fall here. So, and the pressure's on because our fall preview guide goes out like next week.
[00:09:54] So I got to get my act together. Anyway, so preaching. I have no doubt that you will. But preaching, you know, that's the kind of thing. We want to make sure that this time of year is something that's really accessible. If you do get some folks who are trying out your church, you just want to make sure that it's something that's not too inside baseball. Like, for example, I don't think perhaps September's the time to do our capital campaign series, for example.
[00:10:21] Because that's not really going to resonate with folks who are new or maybe even sort of give them the wrong idea about the church. I think so. Yeah, that's kind of the lens that we try to have in September, October is kind of deep and wide, right? I mean, of course, we're going to go deep into God's word. But we're also thinking about things that even if you weren't a follower of Jesus, you could kind of grab a hold of it and go, oh, yeah, I have faith change in my life. And how do I do that well? And what are some wise things to do? And what does God's word have to say about it? So, yeah, I think that's a good strategy.
[00:10:50] So preaching, top of mind for all of us church folks. We've got a lot coming up. Yep. Number two, relational evangelism. If I don't talk about this regularly with our folks, everybody just gets so locked into whatever tasks have to get done. Yeah. And I think we just all need reminding. And I need reminding, hey, this is the season to invite. Yeah.
[00:11:14] It's I want to make sure that from up front, I am permission giving for people who maybe they aren't all the way there with Jesus, but they're showing up to church. I want to remember to be mindful to do that. And the way that looks for me, and again, we talked about this before, you do something similar, is I'll find ways in the service. Sometimes it's transitional times. Sometimes it's even during the sermon. I'll be like, hey. And I know that maybe not everyone in the room, maybe you're not there yet with Jesus. I want to say I'm glad you're here.
[00:11:43] I think God has something more for you. But, you know, that's something that you'll find out on your own. Totally. Totally. I just want to invite you to consider this. Or I'll even do sometimes, hey, this is for all the Christians in the room. You know, and it's a way of just saying, you're welcome here. Please join us for this journey. I hope you come along. I hope you come all the way to the cross with us. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of good ways to talk about that and finding that language that works for you, right?
[00:12:12] And, you know, we're here to wrestle with the big questions of life and faith. And so wherever you are in your journey with Jesus, whether you're sure about Jesus or you have lots of questions still and you're trying to figure it out, we're just glad you're here. You know, it's that kind of stuff, right? And I think the other thing that happens when you do that is people are looking around and going, there's new people here. Like the other day, I said something very much like that to our 9 o'clock crowd. And I could see people kind of going, who are the guests here that aren't sure about Jesus?
[00:12:41] Because I'm pretty sure I know just about everybody in the room. But it's creating that expectation, too, that we will have guests and we will have people who aren't sure yet or have big questions about God and are there to explore. And so it just helps set that relational evangelism tone for the whole of the church. So I love it. Good stuff. Yeah. And also, we also talk about, hey, everybody, and we tell the congregation, now's the time to invite folks.
[00:13:08] You're going to be meeting people at the soccer field and baseball field or wherever you are this fall and football fields. And I just want to remind you, you came here once probably because somebody invited you. And I just want to make sure that's on everybody's mind as we go into this fall season. All right. Number three, guest services. So if you are going to be inviting people, are you prepared to receive them, to welcome them, to meet them? And, you know, we're big fans of guest services.
[00:13:37] And in fact, you know, next week's episode with Greg Atkinson is going to be speaking to that. It doesn't matter what you call it. We used to call it the Welcome Team. The only reason we changed the name is because we were trying to start something better. And I felt like it needed a new name. And a re-frame. Yeah. We need to rebrand it so that we can start something new. But whatever you call it, it's do you have people around the campus of your church on a Sunday morning who are making sure that everybody knows where to go, everybody feels welcomed and not or not.
[00:14:07] They're overwhelmed. And they can get the information they need and feel like it's a soft landing for them when they walk in the door. Because when people come, especially when they come to your church for the first time, they've probably watched you online. But there's a bit of nerves doing anything for the first time. And how do we put people at ease? Like, oh, hey, this seems like a good thing. I'm glad we came today. You know, let's see what it's all about.
[00:15:01] Totally. Let us know. And I often say something like, and when you're ready, we're ready. So just let us know when you want to plug in and we'll help you find all the way. That's a good way of saying it. That's good. And just kind of taking that pressure off. But guest services is really important. That connection, welcome process, tracking with people until they're plugged in. Of course, Greg is an expert at that. We're going to hear more. And I think it ties with that relational evangelism piece, too.
[00:15:24] Because if we're going to ask our people to invite, we better be ready to do a good job of welcoming their guests when they bring them with them. Right. It's like those pieces go together. So really important. And we have to make sure that we have some sort of follow up plan on how to do that. I feel like that's where things usually fall apart. We're great at welcoming. But so, again, just thinking about how are we just welcoming well? And some of it's you just need to train some folks to do it.
[00:15:51] You know, I think some churches think, well, we've got some really good relational people. It'll just sort of happen organically. And what I've discovered is it usually doesn't, not because they're not gifted. It's just because their attention isn't there. Attention's on hanging with the people that they already know, catching up, which is all good. But having a team focused on those is really, really important. And some anecdotal things will happen and people will connect on accident and stuff.
[00:16:17] But if you do it on purpose, it just, it creates a rhythm and a process that you can count on. And so one thing we'll ask a lot of times at staff meeting is, hey, who did you meet on Sunday? Oh, yeah, that's good. And, you know, how do we make sure we follow up with them if they didn't leave information? A lot of times they'll have left, you know, they'll have given information, really basic information to the children's team for check-in purposes. So at least we have one little lead. We're not going to spam them or something, but it's like, okay, we can connect and say, hey, we're so glad you're here.
[00:16:47] How can we help you feel welcome and that kind of stuff? So good things. More to come next week. Yes. Number four, just taking a look at our website and making sure that it's easy to navigate for all the things that we want people to find easily. So is there a nice clear link to your online worship? Because that's most likely why they're going to your website. So make sure that that's easy, discoverable, that it works. Just get in there and click it and just make sure all the links work.
[00:17:15] This is a nice little double check before the fall season. One thing, so example for us is as we're in the middle of this staff transition, we realize some staff members, people are going to have to contact other staff members to do the things that we're getting done elsewhere. We realize that our staff page with all that information was pretty buried in the website and not easy to find. So Suzanne, our communications director, just made a quick change, move something around so it's easier to find.
[00:17:45] Things like that. Just a quick systems check on your website, just making sure everything's where it's supposed to be. Yeah. So top three for you, it sounds like worship and then what do I wear on a Sunday? Maybe frequently asked questions. We're thinking, yes. I try to think of our website more than anything else as a digital billboard for the church in some ways. It's just like a sense of who we are and get a taste of what we do. And here's some information about events, but that's kind of even second nature because you're going to hear about that stuff in the service.
[00:18:15] And what I find is there's pressure, internal pressure from our people to do more on the website for the people who already come. And I'm just like, we're going to resist that because we've provided so many ways for those people to find the information they need on the website, but also through all the email communication. There's lots of channels that we use. So don't take the bait and make it church central. This is like, you know, again, thinking in terms of outward facing guest oriented. Yeah.
[00:18:45] Number five, you know that we're big fans of this around here, but just thinking about what's your fall pathway? In other words, what's our pathway of engagement as we're trying to bring people into a relationship with Jesus Christ, take a deeper step in their faith? What's that look like? What's our strategy? What is the string of invitations we want to pull together for people to do that? So, again, we've had a lot of episodes on this. What I'll do on the show notes is I'll just put down the numbers of the episodes if you want to go back.
[00:19:14] But the idea is, let's say you're brand new to a church in September and you're like, okay, well, how do I get involved? What's next? And we're like, well, we got this fall festival coming up. We want you and your kids to come and be a part of that. And here's the information and we'd love for you to sign up. Oh, wow. That sounds fun. You know? So what is it? It's something that's low risk, high fun. Yeah.
[00:19:40] And it's probably an easy yes for a young family that's always looking for free stuff. Right? Young families are always looking for free stuff to do with the kids that sounds fun and it'd be great if it's with this new church that we just started. Maybe we'll meet people, so on and so forth. Then, well, what's your plan after that? Well, we want to invite them to our big Christmas outreach event or something like that. Yeah. Okay.
[00:20:09] Okay. Absolutely. Absolutely. So it's not rocket science. It's really just taking what you already do, but planning enough ahead that you know what the steps are before you get there. Yeah. So if you could string three or four of these together, maybe you just created a pathway where they're going to get more engaged in the church. Yeah. And there could be different paths, right? So for maybe for the folks that are a little further down the road of the life, you know, we have our jazz concert every second Sunday, and that's going to lead to our worship night or whatever the things might be.
[00:20:39] For young families, trunk or treat leads to our campfire and carols event. And so, but what I hear you saying is don't put a period at the end of an event. Correct. Like the event is good and it is important in its community and all of that, but it should be an ellipsis if you're into punctuation. The dot, dot, dot that leads to the next thing, right? Yeah. So make sure that that's included at the end and that you're, you have at least one other thing down the road. You don't have to have three years worth of stuff, but I hear you for young families.
[00:21:08] It sounds like there's like two major things this fall. Yeah. It's not, it's not crazy. There's a third one in there that's not as major, but it's just an easy one. And that's on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we do a pancake breakfast. So that's another easy one to just sort of get them engaged. Yeah. Good stuff. All right. Number six. And this is a one that I've found so much life in, especially over the summer where I feel like our family has been so scattered.
[00:21:35] I've been traveling so much and it's just been wild. I mean, I've traveled five, I drove about 5,000 miles this summer and I added it up. It's crazy. There's these things called airplanes. Maybe I should have flown to the mission trip. That was my mistake, but I drove to Michigan, which is 10 hours. That's a lot. Um, I know that was dumb, but, um, all that to say one, here's where it's given me a lot of life. And now I'm thinking about how do I continue this in the fall?
[00:22:04] And as inviting people, I don't know who are probably newer to church. Yeah. Haven't spent a lot of time with for, uh, Karen and I, it's been intentional. We really want to get to know the young family. So, um, millennial parents with young, uh, children, we want to invest in them. Like we were invested in when we were that age. And so we've just been inviting them randomly to dinner and it's been awesome. It's been so, so life giving. Mm-hmm.
[00:22:32] And, and I, I just think as pastors, especially if you have a church, like a midsize church or larger, this is where this kind of intention, intentionality is really, really good. It's great with small churches too. Don't get me wrong. But I mean, whatever it gets to the point where you don't know all the new people or, or you sort of don't know everybody well, and I guess this could be a, a, on the smaller side of churches too, because how much time do you really have on a Sunday morning? Right.
[00:23:02] But invite a new person to coffee, invite them to dinner, invite them to lunch. It has been so awesome. And something happens with my ability to lead, to vision, to preach. It's just an, another connecting point. You hear their story, you get to know them. I don't know. I'm, I'm, yeah, I need to be reminded of it because this is what gets squeezed. Yeah, totally. And I, I would say for me, it's invigorating, right? It's as good for me, hopefully as it is for them.
[00:23:30] And I didn't, there is definitely something about the pastor reaching out and taking notice and spending time with that helps cement someone into the life of the church. And that's really good strategically and with hospitality and all that, but it's also good for us, right? We go, oh, and, and new people tend to have still rose colored glasses about how they're seeing the church. And you're the best preacher they've ever heard. That's the best worship they've ever heard. That's the best children's whatever. And I'm like, yes, tell me more about that.
[00:23:57] So, you know, two years later, the story is going to be different. Well, so it is, but I think it's a healthy thing and there is something life-giving for us and hopefully for the people we're meeting with too. So I love that. And I don't think it has to be 10 people. I don't know. No, no. A couple a month probably, or maybe one a month even. One a month or one couple a month, you know, like whatever that looks like. Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of times what I'll do, Jason, for that is I have a little index card in my pocket on Sunday and I'll just make sure I'll write somebody's name and email down
[00:24:27] and be like, hey, I'll reach out. And that goes a long way. You followed, followed up. But if I don't write it down, I will forget. And then you're like, you're the worst pastor ever. All right. Number seven. And I know this, we all should do this without saying it, but just a reminder that especially maybe in the beginning of the fall, whenever you're meeting with your leadership to intentionally
[00:24:52] pray on what God is putting before you in what your focus should be for the fall. And this looks like us in a leadership team or us in this session, which is our elders in the Presbyterian world is just praying together. Like God, show us where you want us to focus. And part of this is a larger conversation is where, and we just did this yesterday. So this is fresh in mind.
[00:25:20] We did it in our all staff meeting and also in our session meeting last night. We did a little up periscope with where we are now after the summer and kind of reviewing our ministry goals from last year that we felt really good about accomplishing, reviewed the goals that we set for this year. And then we said, and first off, where are we, where do we notice the gaps already? Where are the gaps that we need to work on? And that kind of leads to this prayer and focus.
[00:25:49] And the Lord sort of shifts our path as we do that. And I don't know that enough teams are doing this. I think a lot of it's the pastor just like, hey, I prayed and I'm coming down here with tablets. Totally. There's a collaborativeness to that and a kind of a shared discernment and something that, you know, the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace, like praying together does something in us too. And so I think that's really crucial reminder.
[00:26:16] And, you know, the old Presbyterian thing where we make all of our plans and then we get to the end and we ask God to bless them. Like, you know, whatever. I hopefully that's not a true stereotype in every case, but a lot of times in the grind of ministry, we're doing a bunch of stuff and we're like, oh, and God, if somehow you could do some things through that, that'd be great. So stopping to pray and listen as part of, as we're shaping that stuff is really important. And I'm preaching on Psalm 127 come up here at the last of our series. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor, labor in vain.
[00:26:45] It's like, what's the song? If you're not in it, we don't want it. Oh God, would you move? It's like, it's that heart, right? That's what you're bringing into that. Yeah. I love it. Okay. Then number eight is consider what, what would need to be true in your church in order to act on what you feel God's telling you to do. And the reason he asked that question is because sometimes we get this idea in our head and we think, oh, that's two pie in the sky. That'll never happen here.
[00:27:15] And already you're discounting what the Lord's actually putting before you. So what would it look like for you to just take that, those ideas that maybe come from your prayer time with your leadership and say, okay, what would need to be true about us? What kind of church would we need to be in order for these to be true? Because then this is the cool part about it is then, okay, you make a little list and you say, all right, what's preventing us from being that?
[00:27:42] And then you start to problem solve and you start to work towards being the kind of church that acts on what you're hearing God saying. It's so, so powerful and so effective. It doesn't take a lot of time. No. And I think that if language, if we were the kind of church that did, what would we do? And if we were the kind of church that did, it's like people are like, oh, we could, we could be that kind of church that does. So then, yeah, I love that, Jason. I think that's really good. And it helps, that's kind of culture, that's decision-making, risk-taking, all that stuff kind of filters into that. Yeah.
[00:28:12] Number nine, this is a good reminder for me, is to normalize stories of life change in Jesus Christ all throughout the church. So I really try to model this with every team that I lead or I'm a part of, every staff meeting, we always lean into telling stories of where we're seeing God transform lives, including our own.
[00:28:38] And I can't underestimate or I can't emphasize enough the power of what this does in your culture of your church. Because now what? People are expecting life change. Yeah. And when that starts happening, it starts to snowball. Yeah. In the best way. I think a lot of the reason why we have sustained this growth for as long as we have, there's actually no, it doesn't even make sense on paper as far as like, we don't have the right size staff.
[00:29:08] We don't have like all the things we probably should have. We don't have really the right facilities for it. But what we do have is the atmosphere is electric with expectation that God's going to move. Hmm. And I just want to encourage you that. And that costs nothing. Yeah. It costs nothing. Normalize stories of life change. And if you can get people to tell their own stories of life change. Yeah. Yeah. That's so important.
[00:29:36] And there are opportunities that, you know, if we don't ask that question, we're just not going to hear the stories. And so I always appreciated how you want to create space for that. And, you know, sometimes I think our team will get together and it's like, let's just get to the work, right? I know. I'm like, no, no, we need to stop and go, what is God doing? What did you hear? Because that's the reason why, you know, that's the it matters because part.
[00:30:02] And so, you know, if we don't keep that, the fruit of the mission in view, we can forget the purpose of it, I think sometimes. And so, yeah, it's something we can pray for if we're not seeing those stories, but it's certainly acknowledging when they are taking place. So I think it's vital. In fact, maybe that one should bump up to the very top of the list, right? It's like, that's what it's about. And whenever I do that in a meeting, I always put it in the front of the meeting. Yeah. Because I don't want it to be an afterthought where we're trying to all get out at a certain time. Yeah. And I have to tell myself-
[00:30:31] Don't put a number nine on our list, won't you? No, yeah, that's right. That was a mistake. Well, these aren't really in any order. They were the order I thought about them. I'm kidding. All right. Last one. And this is also more important than it deserves more than being number 10. And that is plan to have fun together as a church. Plan fun. Mm-hmm. What's something fun that you guys can do? This summer, we did a cornhole tournament. It was so ridiculous. It was really fun.
[00:31:02] Nice. It's what can you do that's fun? And I think a lot of people, when they come to church, they take it very seriously. Mm-hmm. And they're in a serious spirit. And it's not that we want to kill that because there's some value to that. But also, if we are not enjoying life and having fun, we're not really going to be a community. Yeah. Yeah. You know, fun, it's just like in youth ministry.
[00:31:32] How do you get the kids to pay attention to the Bible story? You run the energy out of them and you play a bunch of games and let them build trust and smile and laugh. And then they're ready to receive. And I think adults are no different. Yeah. It's funny. I've had on my whiteboard for years now. It just says, what is the grown-up version of youth group? Because we're not going to do it all the time. And certainly, we're not going to do chubby bunny on Sunday morning, part of worship or something.
[00:31:58] But it's like, how do we create those experiences of just community and fun and fellowship? Because that is the ground of great relationship and a sense of connection. And so, we're doing an event this weekend actually called Pizza, Popsicles, and Pickleball. So, anyway, why? People are like, why are we doing that? Well, because it sounds fun and we should do that. So, that's what we're going to do. And so, yeah. We're going to have outdoor worship and then we're going to do that event and just have fun at the end of the summer.
[00:32:27] So, for no other reason than just because. And, you know, that's a good thing. So, I'm glad that this is on the list. In fact, it's just a good reminder, thinking through the fall with our staff team, with our leaders, our elders. Are you building in fun on top of the seriousness and discretion? But is there also joy and anticipation? Because, you know, we're doing things that we enjoy together. So, anyway, good things, Jason. I love it. All right.
[00:32:54] So, I don't know, pastors, what you're thinking of as you're now about ready to enter September and all the things that are in front of you. I just pray that hopefully this is a helpful list that gets you to think, oh, yeah, you know, you're probably already thinking of this stuff. But I think it's good for all of us just to be reminded so that it's front of mind as we start thinking about this next ministry season. We were joking in staff yesterday. It used to be we talk about we start a new ministry year, but it feels like we never stop. So there is no season.
[00:33:23] It's like, OK, well, but what's the fall look like? Yeah. But these are great reminders. And again, I believe there's a lot at stake right now. We are still seeing in our culture an openness to Jesus Christ. And we don't know how long this is going to last. You never know how long the culture is going to stay in a spot. And it seems like we've had a good couple of years of this, of real openness to the gospel.
[00:33:51] And I'm telling churches, who knows when we would see this again or when this window is going to close. Let's make the most of it while it's here. Yeah. Really good stuff, Jason. So 10 fantastic reminders, things to be thinking about. And we're right on the cusp of fall here. It's exciting. College football is here. We're going to, you know, get into all of that since the Mariners aren't winning here in the baseball world. We'll just shift gears to football. Hey, it's football season. Yeah. Baseball is just a placeholder.
[00:34:20] No, no, no. I love baseball. I'm just kidding. All right, everyone. Hey, thanks for listening. Again, reach out to us anytime, Jason or Jesse at ReclaimLeader.com. Especially like if you have a nice review, that's great if you'd be willing to post that for us, help people find the podcast. Always super helpful. Thanks so much, everyone. Ministry is hard. It is so much better when we do it together. Take care.