Because each church positions their Communications team differently, each church really does need to develop their own series planning workflow. As is the case with all projects, bringing your design/communication team into the conversation before decisions have been made tends to yield the best results. If you aren't completely sure how to position your Communications Team in the decision making process of your church, I’d love to help you solve that. Let’s chat.
That said, here is how we approach planning a weekend series.
The first phase to planning a series involves defining what the overarching type of series this will be. Different churches will have different "wheelhouses" when it comes to types of series, so this won't be the same everywhere. Here is what High Desert Church tends to present.
Growing our affection for God
Motivation
Disciplines
Grows our care for those around us
Growing our Christlike character
Behaviors
Disciplines
Makes us credible with those around us
Growing our knowledge of God's truth
Bible
Theology
Cross cultural
Gives us clarity with our relational world
Growing our active love for others
Active service among believers
Active services among our community (local and personal)
Effective relational models
Regular call to engage our relational world
The Bottom Line
Articulate the goal of the series in one sentence:
"We want to increase the general biblical literacy of our church."
"We want people to handle their anxiety in a godly manner"
"We want our people to recognize their responsibility to give"
Measurable Goals
A clear bottom line allows us to ask targeted questions. This helps us assess our success at accomplishing the bottom line.
Target Audience
A clear target audience allows us to focus on a specific need. It shouldn't be so bread that it tries to reach everyone, nor should it be so niched that it reaches too few.
"our audience is people who don't regularly serve"
“our audience is people who are intimidated to read their bible"
Biblical Content
Identify the content we will exegete for the series.
Series Theme
The theme is best created when the other categories have been identified. More cohesive creation elements happen after the other steps are taken.
Milestones
Identify milestones that help accomplish the Series Goal each week. Every week of your series should move the congregation one step closer to the overall goal of the series. This may not always feel like moving forward as we often need to break an understanding before we can move in the direction God is calling us through His word.
Develop a breakdown of who teaches what. Sometimes this is schedule driven (who is in town that weekend), sometimes it is gifts driven (who is most gifted at delivering a convicting message? Does this week call for a teacher, a preacher, or an evangelist?).
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