When you think of important days in the life of the church, no doubt two spring to mind most immediately—Christmas and Easter. These aren’t just holidays; they are deeply theological markers on the calendar. They represent the yearly opportunity to celebrate the miraculous incarnation of Jesus Christ, and the miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But when it comes to important seasons in the life of the church, your mind probably goes somewhere else—to the fall. The fall season is widely regarded by both ministry leaders and researchers as the most pivotal time of the year for the church. The statistics validate that assertion in a number of ways.
For most churches, fall marks the true beginning of the ministry year as families return from summer vacation, get back into school, and seek new routines. According to Gallup, approximately 31% of U.S. adults attend religious services weekly or nearly weekly; so a strong fall establishes the attendance baseline for the rest of the ministry year. If, then, you can have a strong and well executed fall, you have set up the rest of the year for stability. That’s doubly important given that fall events act as the most effective “on-ramps” for reaching the community through low-barrier fellowship like fall festivals and harvest events.
What’s more, fall serves as the critical “on-ramp” for the church’s primary giving season. According to Nucleus, while December is the peak giving month at 13.81%, October and November are strong contributors at 8.22% and 8.38% respectively.
You might go so far as to say something like this: As fall goes, so goes the rest of the year.
It’s true for outreach; it’s true for attendance; it’s true for stewardship. And it’s also true in the thing that brings those three elements of church life together:
Discipleship.
These tangible areas of church life—outreach, attending church, and stewardship—are outworkings of spiritual growth in Christ. They are some of the evidences of personal spiritual growth and the overall growth in spiritual maturity of a congregation. Put together, you come to the conclusion that fall is the best—and most critical—discipleship opportunity for the year.
Because that’s so, the importance of thoughtful and strategic planning in the spring and summer comes into sharp focus. If we want to make the most of that opportunity in the fall, then preparation must start now.
So what are you actively doing today to make the most of the best discipleship opportunity of the year?
Are you recruiting leaders? Training volunteers? Casting vision? Hopefully so.
And Rooted can help with all three. This ten-week experience has the power to catalyze leadership, spur spiritual growth in community, and embolden serving. If you’d like to explore how that can happen, we’d love to help.
Sign up for a free Rooted preview today, and one of our pastor coaches will reach out to you soon!
