What do you teach during the summer?

It's no secret that the erratic church-going patterns of many people over the summer months presents a variety of challenges for most churches. One of the challenges for pastors is what to teach. Many churches do a bunch of one-offs or a series of self-contained topical messages creatively tied together so that people can come on any given week and still feel connected to what's going on that day.

I have done that in the past, but for the last few years I have opted to do a book study over the summer (I am excited to start Esther soon!). I have no dispute with people who teach topical studies or a different format than we do over the summer. I think as church leaders we just have to be very careful to resist the temptation to offer anything less than our best over the summer months just because less people will generally be present each week. Regardless of series format or selection of teachers, the quality of content and delivery must remain high so that people can be encouraged and exhorted to grow in every season.

Comments

[Steven Long]

Hello Bill - just got connected to your blog through Twitter. I am a church launcher too :) We started Ridgeline Church in the spring of 2008. We actually put our best series in the summer months. So, we used Andy Stanley's, 'Faith, Hope, and Luck,' and now we're heading into 'Transformed - Everything Changes' It's a 4-part prophecy/end times series. Our final "Summer Blockbuster Series" is titled, 'APEX.' It's how the church started in Acts 1-3 and what we're doing practically to disciple new believers. The point is, I've found that if you put some exciting stuff together for summer, many people stick around and you capture new people who have just moved into the area! Blessings - Steven

[Bill LaMorey]

Hey Steven,

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

You are absolutely right about summer. We've found that we grow every summer too. People look around and if a lot of other churches are "keeping it simple" over the summer you tend to stand out when you keep quality/standards high.

So glad to hear about Ridgeline. You've passed the dreaded 2-year mark so it sounds like you guys are well on your way! :)

-Bill