What should we think about the 4th term?

1. Mission: Dust your mission calendar off. For summer it can be a big mission season, for others it is the slow season. For those who are prepping for that big mission, now is the time to get things going. Really important to have a next step for what will happen for people coming to Christmas

NB Your mission calendar is where you mission funnel drives your diary.

2. Leadership: this is all about a season of transition.  Onboarding new leaders or training leaders. Talking with leaders and honouring those who are stepping off or those who have done a great job. Celebrating the team, give thanks to God for the things that he has done.

3. Christmas: This is a great place for people to create connections with people in the community but make sure you know what the next step is but you need to think about what is best for you.

4. Summer: On one hand you will get visitors but things will slow down and you will need to keep some momentum. You need to acknowledge with people this is a different season.

5. Rest: Gospel workers should try and be refreshed as you come into the Christmas/ summer season.

TOOLBOX:

• Example mission calendar
• Mission funnel
• Reach Australia National Conference: 19-22 May Mission

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TRANSCRIPT:

The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.

Good day.I’m Scott Sanders.I’m Derek Annum.Welcome to The One Thing, a podcast designer give you one solid practical tip of Gospel Centre ministry every week.The One Thing is brought to you by Reach Australia.We want to see thousands of healthy, evangelistic, multiplying churches reach out if you are thinking about a new congregation, plant, a new site or sending out a team of people to start a new church in your region.

Today we are thinking about what we need to get ready for now.Now, Derek, you’re getting ready for long service leave.So can I ask what’s what’s gonna be the what’s gonna be the big gold dream Hope out of out of long service leave other than not having to talk to me for three months?

Oh, maybe I might.Just call you up just to check in.What a dream.What a dream.That’ll be three months.What?It’s only two months.In the end, I think my dream is to this sounds incredibly boring and it’s it’s not me.If you know anything about me, this is not me.

Actually, one of my primary projects is to build a garden in the backyard, like a, a, a vegetable garden, a raised vegetable patch in the backyard.I’m going to do it.Not paying someone else to do it, not getting my kids to do it or they, they might help.So that’s my, I think.I think that’ll take me two months and that’s all I’ll achieve in that two months.

Two months mate, that’s just a weekend project.Yeah, not for me couple.Of couple of logs, couple of tips to Bunnings bit of dirt.But when you go to Bunnings Sounds.Like a great project.I don’t go to Bunnings once.I go to Bunnings five times because I bought the wrong thing four times.That’s how I do Bunnings.

So you know, that’ll be my.Keep part keep Part of that project is going to be is going to be doing all your planning, getting your getting your drawings up and running so that you get the right amount of timber and you get the right amount of dirt.It’s a simple project here.This is the kind of reason people are tuning into the one thing isn’t.

It But for now, you press play another episode of the one thing making the most of fourth term.Today’s podcast is brought to you by Kids Wise Academy.The Kids Wise Academy is an online platform that seeks to equip people and discipline kids.

The Academy Is a flexible platform that offers courses for both parents and volunteers.Why not explore the growing number of courses in Kids Wise Academy today?Head to the website kidswise.com dot AU.And now back to the podcast.So let me just do a a quick recap.

So far through the year, we’ve talked about in first term getting things going well.It’s all about starting ministry, starting the year well, leading with vision, helping your people see where it is you’re going and how it’s aligned with your big picture goals.Second term, it’s about maintaining focus, looking after people who are interested post Easter, so moving them into your conversion engine, into your integration engine, then checking in on to your ministry teams for Wellness, making sure they’re all thriving and going well.

And then finally doing that long term work of getting people to start thinking into their apprenticeships for the following year.So it kind of starts needed to start in second term, but it’s not too late.It’s not too late.You can still tap people on the shoulder, but it’s probably is too late now.That’s fourth term.

Now in terms of third term, it’s actually starting to think about next year.So all about planning, getting all your planning rhythms in cycle so you can prepare for next year.So fourth term, what should fourth term be all about?

We’ve got four or five things that we want to talk about, Derek, we want to kick off with, I guess, just diving back into the mission calendar.So what should you be doing?Yeah, it does depend on your context, doesn’t it?Because there’s some people, summer is a massive mission time and others it’s a time when everyone leaves.

And so obviously it’s going to be contextual.But I, I would say if, if summer is, if you’re in a place where summer is a huge mission dog, obviously this is the gearing up, This is the vision setting.This is the helping people understand what role they’re going to play in this.And for some churches, well, in that space as well, it’s calling people maybe to to curb the, the holidays or the time that they might spend out of that area in order to invest in mission, which is a big sacrifice.

But actually, if you’re on a missionary and this is a key moment for you where you’re running some mission and off the back of that will throw a, a preaching series and Christian explorer to life, then this is the term for doing that.If you’re in an area where everyone leaves, so in Brisbane everyone goes outside, it’s not what people come over.

Some of they go to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, they they head out of it.This fourth term in terms of mission, I would argue is actually building up to what’s going to happen when people land new doorstep in the January, February period.So when you’re going to run life courses, what’s going to happen with these those kind of things?

But yeah, it will differ.But what’s your experience?Well, I guess some listeners might be hearing this going mission calendar.What?What is a mission calendar?What are you talking about?I’ve got a calendar, but I didn’t know I had to have a mission calendar.Yeah, OK.Well, you should explain that to them then, because this is this is the thing.

I feel like this is one of the OK.Mate, this is a crisp.We are, we are just on fire today.Yes, well, a mission calendar, very simply it’s it’s overlying the the mission funnel into your into your ordinary calendar.

It’s helping you actually think through how do how do you get your calendar actually drive mission.And so as Derek said, January, February, December, January could be a, a slow down, but I, I still want to countenance that by, by saying that December could be a time where you build a whole bunch of contacts through your carols and through your Christmas Eve and Christmas services.

But it might be February that actually you’re going to do a lot of the follow up work and the next step work for people.If, if December, January is a time where people kind of leave.So pull out your mission calendar again, look at the events that you’re thinking about for December in order to build mission height and and build, you know, connection events and contact events to get people into your mission funnel.

See what you need to add, see what you need to stop doing.But again, dust it off, pull it out, reflect on on what’s there.Make sure that those teams that are responsible for those specific projects through Christmas and post Christmas are on board.

And importantly, make sure that you have those next steps in place coming out in in February, March.The mistake that most people make is they just don’t have a next step over this December period.And for those where summer is a is a real, you know, big boom for, for building that mission funnel.

You know, you’ll probably have those next steps in place in January.For those that it’s not, it’ll probably be the end of January and also leading into into that February, you know, that February, March period.Yeah, it’s good.OK, Second thing, Dusty Miss first thing Dusty mission calendar off.

Make sure that people know what they’re responsible for.Make sure you’ve got the right amount of events in in order to build heat and and for for for the new year leadership training.Derek, what should we be doing with new leaders in fourth term?

Yeah.So at this point you, you are thinking about onboarding, hopefully you’ve you’ve begun to think through what your 2025 will be next year, but you’ll begin to onboard purple for for next year.Now this might particularly be new leaders that you’ve identified.This might be leaders in training you people have been training for the year.

But turn 4:00 will be the point at which you’re actually trying to help them understand what it will look like to lead in that new context and equipping them for that.So onboarding them for the next year, they see the other aspect of this as well as as you’re thinking through people who have served and who have led.

One of the rhythms that you do want within your leadership training and your serving calendar as well is the ability to have conversations with people who might need to step back, step off, take a break, but also honouring all those people who have served.So I think term 4 is a, is a good moment of that actually honouring people who’ve served to sacrificially serve, who express the gospel and the way they’ve loved the body and in the wider church, and particularly those who won’t be taking a break next year.

I think that does a number of things for me.The celebrating or the honouring of people who’ve both served and those who are taking a break.It does communicate to your church that it’s OK to step back at points.It’s actually OK to do that.It’s all right to we’re, we’re finite creatures.

We don’t always, we’re not, we don’t live by legalism, we live by grace.And so honouring those who serve and honouring those who have served faithfully and the need to step back and take a break as well.Yeah.Now you’ve, you’ve written down some things just here around ministries for the year about celebrating with just talking to that because you, you are good at this.

You say, well, yeah, I I don’t know if I’m good at good at celebrating that much, but make a time potentially pull together your team leaders and and some of your key, your key team members in church life to just to just to cast vision for serving, but also to celebrate the year that’s been to give thanks to God.

This this is something I don’t think we’d do very well in ministry.We’re caught up in that kind of seven day cycle, but four terms of time where you can pause and just, you know, give thanks.It’s also a time to to help help help some people transition.

So there might be team members moving into team leadership or team leaders moving into coaching roles.This is a great time to not only honour, honour them, but also to help them say that they’re kind of stepping out of ministries, stepping into these ministries.It’s a, it’s a place where you can kind of again, celebrate your leadership pipeline and celebrate people’s growth and, and development, but also people actually stepping up in leadership and actually taking on more responsibility.

A great comment to that because you’re doing it in front of people, but you’re also, you’re having an opportunity, you know, to, to celebrate hopefully with their team as well.And then, as Derek has said as well, sending people who have, who have, who have finished finished well, I think this is a really good time also to celebrate, you know, potentially those, those apprentices that you’ve got in ministry.

And it could be a time to kind of tack on as well a, a quick kind of support rise for, for that as well.You know, we want to be a church that’s about raising up and sending out leaders.You might be graduating an apprentice, you might be having your first apprentice joining, you know, joining a church family.This is a great time to to get that whole group of people to say, hey, we want to, we want to resource and we want to support this person that’s putting your hand up to jump into, you know, into in a ministry.

Well, another thing to be thinking about is making the most of Christmas.So, Derek, how do we make the most of Christmas?Oh, it’s all about the carols.Some of.The key questions we need to be asking.All about the Carols event.You just gotta make the Carols event the biggest you can possibly make it.

No, look, that was just channelling the, the my inner Dave Jensen there.I know I’m actually loves carols, but I think the, the, the nothing wrong with Carols, but it is thinking deliberately to what is it at this time of year when people often are willing to step into spaces they may not normally step into in terms of religious activity, faith communities?

What are the things that that your church can do given your place in the community, given the opportunities in order to create connections the the impact of some of these things in terms of people coming to them and then ask that question, what must I do to be saved or even the direct connection to running these things and people finding themselves in in some sort of life course of Christian explored is really it’s relatively few.

So you’ve just got to understand what realm you’re working with in here.This is an awareness piece.This is to help people understand that you are, as we say in our consults, you are the church that people know they don’t go to in this space.And it might be a Carol’s event, it might be the Christmas services, it might be the Christmas Eve services, it might be any number of things within that space.

But you do want a way you can make the most of what is a public event acknowledged across Australia where people are slowing down and they may step into a church or into a church community for some exposure.But you just do need to understand what the purpose of that is, what it is and what it is.

And it’s an awareness event so that people know about your church.So the point at which they had that, that moment in life where they’re asking bigger questions in the future or it provides an Ave for a person, a Christian, a church to have the conversation to say, you know, what is life really bad?

That’s what it’s for.So gearing up for for that, but understanding what place it plays and what comes next afterwards.Now, now, Derek, what’s going on in a church plant?What’s going on in an established church?Is there a different dynamic that’s taking place?

You know, should a church plant just kind of hibernate, you know, not do much, you know, through Christmas?Depends again, doesn’t it?Because some churches, if you’re in a building where like if you have, if you have a building, whether you’re a church plant or not, and it’s an established church and people know the church, often you can run things where people will come to just random walk in’s.

And so you don’t want to miss that opportunity, whether a church plant or not, you make the most of every single opportunity that is there for you in there.But you know, if you’re, if you’re a church plant and you’re not meeting in a building, or if you’re an established church, you’re not meeting in church building, then just need to rethink the rhythms of people being there.

I do think over Christmas.So I think you’ve just got to be careful not to assume that everyone that no one will come.And you’ve just got to work out how not to lose momentum.So you can rest, but you don’t want to lose momentum that you’ve built in the rest of the year by not meeting for two weeks when you might get new people walking through the door for whatever reason.

So you’ve got to work out how to rest.And maybe in your area you need to work out how to slow down.But I want those questions to be driven by mission as well as just sustainability.I don’t think those two things are competing.So I’ll be very nervous about churches shutting down church plants or shutting down over Christmas entirely.

You can do something different but still continue to meet and still maintain that momentum.Good, good.OK, two more things to talk about summer.So that summer summer period you’ve already kind of raised, it’s going to depend on on your context.

So for example, in Sydney pretty much the week before, you know, the week after Christmas and the first two weeks most people kind of leave Sydney, they get out, they go away.It’s actually quite a quite a quiet period.Loads of tourists in Sydney, though, there are loads of loads of things happening, but most people kind of leave, leave the city to go to the coast, you know, to get away for that kind of summer holiday.

Yeah, that, that’s, that’s true.That’s true.But the reality is generally January, February is a, is a time for a lot of visitors to be, to be checking out churches.It’s a time where newcomers are often checking out, checking out churches.

It’s a time of transition for a lot of people.So yes, a lot of ministries are going to be going into hibernation.Your small groups, your youth, your kids ministry.But in terms of gathering on a Sunday regularly, we want to keep we want to keep doing that.It’s one of the few commands in in scripture for for us as as as Christians and as follows Jesus to to meet regularly together.

So over this summer period, what it what does it look like?You know, to, I guess, run church light, but to also run church with a view to visitors, newcomers to also run church with a view to, you know, resting, you know, and and and and helping people you know, continue to to gather together around God’s word.

How do how do I guess we keep momentum going?Well, let me turn it back on you, Scott.What?What do you seeing as the most effective ways that churches connect?What?What do churches do that most effectively helps newcomers connect and find themselves part of the community?

Yeah, I, well, I think a key part of it is that time, time before church, that good kind of welcoming culture during church.But actually, I think it doesn’t take a lot to work on your, you know, post service activity.

So make sure you got good food, good coffee, you know, you’ve got good key welcomeers there amongst that group who are making sure that people are are settling in there.And you know, they’re, they’re connecting up with various people in church and that you’re still continue to get people’s names so you can follow them up.So again, I think it’s really, really good time to kind of pare back things to be a bit more relaxed in the gathering, to potentially not have, you know, celebration spots and have all the kind of bells and whistles that you have in a, you know, in an ordinary service.

And, and to acknowledge that as well.You know how there’s a lot of people who are on holidays, we don’t have our best guitar player.Derek’s doing a good job, but he’s, you know, he’s not our, he’s not our, he’s not our best guitarist, you know, acknowledge that it’s really good to gather with people as well.So really, you know, lean into this is an important part of what it means to actually follow Jesus and and and make people’s, I guess, experience of church after and before, you know, the best.

So I think this is not a time where you want to actually pull people off, you know, off the welcoming ministries in church life and pay back on that.But I think you can pay back on the gathering.Yeah.So apart from your microaggressions about my guitar playing there, that’s really helpful.

The, the, the reality there in the meeting is it’s about the connection that you’re looking for, like you can do.And as you said, you just say things from the front like, yeah, we’re in summer mode.And so things look a little bit different for the next month or so.And everyone understands that at Christmas, if you’re doing that, like in prime time, people may not understand, but people understand that.

But you just create those spots around as well.People are a little bit more relaxed.They can stay around for longer afterwards.So you have lunches, have meals together, And so you do little things because what you’re looking to do is just connect with people and draw them in.And so it doesn’t have to be all the big rosters, we don’t remember rosters, all the big teams, all the big events we have.

It just needs to have those moments of of connection when people are slowing down a little bit.It will be as effective if you’re deliberate about it as other moments in the year.OK, so we’ve talked about a number of things today, dusting out your mission calendar, clarifying what you’re going to be doing in December, January, so you can build heat and momentum for the year, working hard on celebrating your leaders and also on boarding and equipping new leaders, making the most of Christmas.

It’s a time to to not slow down to, you know, not slow down, but to continue to build momentum, to be thoughtful about that summer period.How is it that you can build community over summer?The last thing I want to say in fourth term is you need to make sure that you take opportunity to rest and I’m not talking about in December.

And January, because I think that’s a critical time for passes often to be around given that there’s a whole bunch of newcomers coming in.I think you want to, you want to work out how you can take some some time off in end of October, start of November.You know, that’s a really useful time for you actually to rest, recharge, potentially try and get, you know, a week off there so that so that you are refreshed as you go into the, the Christmas sort of summer season.

It’s an unusual time to take holidays.You know, it’s it’s a fourth term.There’s lots of activity happening for you if you’ve got kids at school.But if you’re able to, this is a good time in end of October, start of November to take a break and have a holiday.

And that that means you can be rest, rested and recharged to kind of keep running hard until Easter when you know, you’re probably is going to be the next time that you get a chance to actually get a rest.OK, OK, Derek, what’s the one thing that’s most important about fourth term?

I think you need to be deliberate at this point about both not shutting down but celebrating, honouring what’s happened in the year but gearing people in a very sensible, measured way about what the possibilities are for the following year.

It’s just this bit of a, yeah, a bit of a pivotal moment.We’ve just got to delicately say it’s been a big year thanks to God.Here’s where we’re hoping God will take the next year.So I think just delicately with with the timers of people, that’s a long one thing, but that’s what it is.

It’s that pivotal moment from the year that has been a thanking God for that and the year that will be and casting people’s vision for before it was your one thing.Make the most out of Christmas.We are post Christian, but there are still loads of people who will be at our churches over Christmas.

So make the most of it for mission, make the most of it for building rich biblical community, and make the most of it for celebrating the amazingness of the incarnation that is crossed with us.OK, I’m just going to pull out the toolbox really quickly.

Just a couple of things.We’ll put a link in the show notes to just a draught mission calendar.It’s something that we use in the console slots.We’ll also put a link in the show notes to a couple of slides that just show that mission funnel.And then I’m going to get an early, an early, an early plug for next year’s conference.

It’s all on mission.That’ll be on the 19th to the 22nd of May at EV Church and Gossip Presbyterian on the Central Coast.Bring your teams, get along.The whole conference is going to be focused on mission.

It’s gonna be a good year.I’m Derek Henna.Chat soon.