The Holiday Climb & The Holiday Slide

Are you tired of the post holiday depression? Then read on!

This is an article that I knew from the beginning I wanted to write. It’s a topic that once I heard a discussion on it, it made so many things click for me and now I want to share it with others. 

The Holidays – this strange occurrence each year, a significant portion of the year, dedicated to jumping from one celebration to the next. With every new year it feels like they just get more and more elaborate and commercialized. I don’t understand how we (I can only speak for Americans on this) keep making more and more just. . . Stuff to lump into the holidays, it’s bonkers. For Christians, holidays like Easter and Christmas bear significant importance as they lay the foundations of our faith. Yet, we get caught up in the commercial holiday instead of the celebration of redemption. That is the tip of the issue, the hype and extravagance the holidays get.

But anyway, the holidays. It starts with Halloween, then keeps going Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Valentines Day, and Easter all in the span of a few months. Sure there are some breaks between them, but we spend almost half the year going from holiday to holiday. We spend so much time preparing for them, worrying about them, doing stuff to prepare for them, seeing people, going to things, getting holiday related goodies. We’ve got the holiday season down. Inside and outside the church, when it comes to holidays everyone goes full out. It is what society has decided to do.

But then. . . they end. Now what? 

We get the winter blues, we have the after holiday slump and no wonder! So many people don’t know how to come down off the holiday buzz, OR they just have never given it thought with any idea on how to prepare for the inevitable holiday slide. It’s the rush of adrenaline and anticipation that keeps us going until the climax of the actual holiday… and then for some it’s a brick wall, the happiness and excitement are gone and we are left just feeling down, feeling off cause those emotions and events are done. The early childhood education teacher in me would say that we don’t have good self regulation skills when it comes to after the holiday.

I went to the Passion Church LIFT Conference a few years ago, and one of their talks was centered around this exact topic. It was an eye opener. I want to not only share what I learned from that talk, but also how learning this knowledge has changed how I now prepare around the holidays personally and in the church. It isn’t just about preparing for the holiday itself, but pre-planning for what happens after, the topics you are going to lean into, the music and decor even can make such a difference if planned in advance. Having the plan before it's needed helps it be easier to stick to. Plans are easier made in the adrenaline of the season, rather than when you've already hit the slump and lack the motivation to plan. 

So where they began their talk was a simple scenario. Climbing a mountain. 

Maybe with that alone you know where I’m going with this, but just stay with me. Before the climb itself even begins there is a lot of work to do. First, you map out the route you are going to take. What is the expected weather and conditions you need to prepare for? You have to determine the length of time this climb will take, and that is where they began to emphasize and I emphasize – this is when it becomes extremely important to not only plan for the climb up, but also the climb back down. That is equally if not more important for the simple reason of if you don’t prepare for the down climb of the mountain you can die from one of many ways from lacking a fully laid out plan.

They then went into that in the prep you make the plan for the down, you bring enough supplies for the up and the down. You bring along extra provisions and have to carefully layout what you need because you logically can’t successfully climb a mountain if you dont prepare for both parts. It’s common sense right?

This is such a good example of how we in the church –  leadership and planning teams should go into any holiday season. With a plan for not just the season, but after it is done. And not just for the regulars either, but for those who maybe came to the church for the first time. Something resonated with them so they are coming back for some reasons and you need to have a plan to help them not have the slump and fade away again. 

This is where the detailed prep is essential and where I want to lay out how I have taken this scenario and applied it in ministry and the difference it can make. 

I’m going to use Easter for my example since that is the holiday we are coming up to. You might feel you are headed toward that slump right now, and I get it. But I hope you can find ideas and encouragement. You are not alone in this, but maybe this can be a first step to prevent those feelings in the future.

Okay. . . so the plan.

For me, Easter Season begins on Ash Wednesday. I treat Ash Wednesday as the day to begin a focus on the Easter season, this looks different to different people. Some may fast, some start spiritual routines for the season. Every denomination, church, person is different about this, but for my example I’ll be starting at Ash Wednesday.

A beginning note: the sooner your planning starts, the easier to follow it is. This is true of any holiday season, the planning begins well in advance to the actual season.

First! I get out my calendar and I mark the important dates.

Starting with Ash Wednesday and going to Pentecost – having my start and end points here has made it a much easier climb up and down. Having this wider range can require more weeks of prep but allows easier pacing. This can make it easier on you, leadership, volunteers, your congregations, and your visitors.

Important dates should include: every Sunday until Pentecost, any for sure or possible to be added events that are not on a Sunday, and any variation of events or extra events on a Sunday. Having a pre-set events plan from the beginning can help not only you feel less overwhelmed trying to keep up with the busy schedule, but having a plan can be a great tool for your volunteers from the beginning. This is especially for others like me who function better with a plan than just a list of maybe ideas to sort as they go.

Dates & Events marked. Next -- I start talking to people.

Start as soon as you can with getting people’s schedules. Know commitment levels, and know what area they want to help in. Know who are your staying around for the holiday people vs your will be gone during Holy Week people. This not only lets you utilize more people, but it allows the responsibilities to spread to more people over time, helping to lessen fatigue by making responsibilities easier.

During this step, if you don’t already know – find your go getters, find your planners. Find your leading team that you know will be committed and able to be involved throughout. These people being your group leaders, or pastors depending on the dynamics of your church. All pastors should be meeting anyway to better coordinate between departments, but know your people and schedule meetings as early as you can. Meeting too early is always better than meeting too late.

Communication is key and vital. Be careful, don’t let all responsibility fall onto one person. I have seen the worship fatigue hit so many, including myself. If there is enough of a support system and enough communication fatigue can hopefully be minimal. Let's be honest, we are all either the person who goes too hard and crashes, or we know the people that do.

It's another important step -- knowing people’s limits. Getting things done to meet the expectations without exhausting someone.

Calendar made, people on board -- Next pick your specific content for the season.

Coordinate with all teams.

Make sure someone is in regular communication with the Sunday speaker(s). Weaving the same topics into the other branches of the church can bring deeper study for your regular attenders as well as making guests comfortable expanding their interactions, providing multiple ways to plug into a group. Once you have a general outline, knowing the topic or scripture focus for each week, it should guide the planning -- children and youth ministry topics, adult/ small group classes, and the worship team. I will touch on musical worship more further down. For a general note: try to find ways to align worship planning to the sermon topics whether in theme or motivation.

All your planning is complete, the first date arrives, the season is here! Now let's discuss the implementation of all the planning!

Just like during the planning phase, during the season it is also vital to maintain regular communication between departments. Be sure that all groups have what they need and be encouraging and supportive of one another.

Sundays -- Engage your congregation

Don't be afraid to hype up the season a bit! Talk about events coming up, talk about the importance of the season, help people feel included, make effort to invite people. Holidays are a part of the year that the church can utilize as a way of encouraging people in the community.

Events -- It's ok to not preach at every not Sunday event

Let some events be solely about fellowship and community. Still with Easter in mind, but it does not need to be the center of every gathering. Sometimes the best thing we can do is be together and do stuff together.

Be flexible & adaptable

Even the best plans can need alterations. Sometimes as we move through the season we realize that something just is not going to work out like we hoped. That's okay, a changed plan is not a failed plan.

My planners out there, this can be hard, I know from experience. We make a good solid plan, everything is in place to succeed and then some unforeseen issue arises. The plan is no longer possible. It can be discouraging, and sometimes we take it personally and beat ourselves up over it. Take changes with grace and have patience with yourself. It is absolutely easier to say then do. Remember though, the season is about what God has done, as long as He is praised, we have not failed.

Be intentional to reach out and engage with visitors

While it is important to encourage and focus on Jesus, don't let that be the only thing visitors hear. We can never know what a person is dealing with. Sometimes the best thing we can do for them is be an ear to listen to them, care about their presence, not forcing anything on them, giving them kindness and welcoming them. Building a relationship is far more important. Jesus gives us an excellent example. He would gather with sinners, spend time with the people that the world rejected, share a meal or just be among them. Jesus built up trust first, then worried about "spiritual" topics. He is our best teacher. We should follow his example.

This continues into the weeks after Easter with people that return. Who is responsible for greeting, what is the engagement like, will they be welcomed but not bombarded with attention. It’s a careful dance, and the best thing to do is plan in advance. Know your people and who is best for the task. Have planning meetings, communicate everything, it matters. These encounters are so critical not only for the health of the church but for those people who maybe are new to this. Visitors can be nervous, unsure, they’re back to learn more. There should be resources in place for those people. There should be safety and welcome for those people. Don’t ignore them, don’t hope “someone else will deal with them”. Find your people to be doing those tasks so they don’t fall through the cracks.

It's not too late for people to join

While having people in place from the beginning is important, sometimes people don't realize the need for their help or know how to get involved. While not everybody can necessarily be utilized constantly, don't dismiss someone eager to help. Make an effort to plug them in somewhere. This can also be avoided by creating clear channels for people to access when they are looking for a way to serve.

Don't let the plan become a mindless routine

We let our faith become stagnant when we go through the motion without intention. What we do is important, always take time to pause and center yourself on God and let Him be what motivates you. It's okay to take a step back to recenter your focus. It is better to step back than push forward with no intentionality.

The Sunday after Easter should not feel like hitting a brick wall

Easter has come, the excitement and anticipation for the day has arrived. Then it ends. This is where your planning gets put into action. Let your content be reflective of the season. Give people a chance to come down from the holiday slowly. The next Sunday should not feel like "Easter Sunday was great, it was fun; now back to normal." Don't act like it didn't happen, don't fall into now back to our regularly scheduled program.

I experienced this several years ago and it was brutal. We sang at 4 high energy events during Holy Week. It was great! But then came the first rehearsal after Easter, and nobody talked about Easter or any of it. There was no reflecting on how anything went. Worship team just jumped to next weeks music, thematically it had little to nothing to do with Easter. It felt like Easter got packed away into a box put in the attic to collect dust til next year. I didn't know what to do emotionally, I think others in the group felt the same.

So, what to do?

There is a lot you can do. There is not one right answer. It is important to remember though -- Easter to Christians can sometimes lose its impact. We go through the motions, we forget how truly incredible Easter is. Try to not let this happen. Just because you have heard this story your whole life doesn't mean that is how everyone else views it. Make it a big deal, because it is!

One idea I have seen and liked -- churches pick up where they left off. Beginning with Easter, yes this incredible, awesome event happened! What happened next? The Bible doesn't end with Jesus' resurrection, there is still so much to read about after that day. This can be a great way to move into a new focus but one that stays reflective of the holiday.

Other ideas that can help beyond sermon and class topics -- music and activities. It can feel like you just did the big stuff, time to take a break. I absolutely understand this feeling! This is where the pre-planning helps. Schedule a couple relaxed fellowship opportunities, bring people together again. Worship music can be selected in advance to be reflective of Easter but move into His promises for the future. Find songs that can emotionally help people come down from the high energy of Easter.

This is where I’m going to focus on my music choosing people. Please, please, please read this statement. Worship leaders/pastors you DO NOT need to use every hit worship song during the easter season! Read it again! You DO NOT need to use every hit worship song during the easter season. It is so tempting to do this, but take a step back and think about the typical Sunday morning experience compared to your holiday experience. Are you always going to be able to maintain the same level year round? For people who decide to stay longer because of the impactful praise and worship, will it suddenly end because the holiday is over? Don’t do this! 

It can seem like the holidays are the best times to pull all of the exciting and powerful and emotional music. Make it bigger and louder to emphasize the holidays, right? You should celebrate, let things be exciting, it's okay to have those few extra things. But you don’t need all the bells and whistles. You can't make every Sunday a big celebration, and you shouldn't try to either. It is exhausting to maintain. Don’t do it! Pace yourself and your teams.

Something I have appreciated the past few years -- finding that one maybe two impactful songs. They are new, they are emotional or powerful and they just resonate in a different way. It’s just one of those songs. I’m sure you could name a couple right now.

There are so many it isn’t hard to find them, a couple groups that I see a lot are Elevation Worship, Bethel Worship, Passion, and many artists like Phil Wickham, Kari Jobe, CeCe Winans -- they each have a lot of music with a good range of diversity. Take time in advance to choose one you feel could be impactful and in line with your church's easter style.

Once you have the song, you must choose when you will introduce it.

For my example, I introduce the chosen song first on Ash Wednesday. This is when you have some options -- take time to look at your church's holiday routines and expectations. This plan is not a one size fits all solution. Take my example as a place for ideas and inspiration not as an exact roadmap to follow.

I introduce the new song on Ash Wednesday. I look for feedback, how the song was received. This can help me determine the frequency of its use throughout the rest of the Easter season.

Wait a bit, maybe use it right in the middle between Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday. Then choose one or the other – Palm Sunday or Easter, to do it one more time. Make that one count, then wait 2 weeks and use it once more. Then give that song a break for a bit before deciding if you want it to join regular rotations.

The first song I heard used in this style of plan was Available by Elevation. It was a song that hit me hard on Ash Wednesday when I really didn’t know how to go into the season because I was wrestling a lot with feeling a ministry call on my heart. I’d never heard the song before that night. I left service balling, because that song hit hard and resonated. I found it on Spotify after that and just put it into my personal worship playlist. It was a song that sparked something in me and it took me time to really know what. And I did not know this, but there was an evening event on Palm Sunday, they used the song again. It gave me clarity. It ended the wrestling in my heart, I made a commitment to worship ministry. I didn’t know what that would look like, it was not a job I was going to start the next week, but it was God hitting home that that was what I needed to hear.

I share all of that to say, they didn’t sing every popular Christian song, the services around and on Easter didn’t become this big extravagant thing that put unrealistic expectations on the church. The one time I saw a church do that though, ooof, was it rough. It really cemented the value of a solid plan that doesn’t mean pulling out all the bells and whistles for one week.

You have to pick your music carefully and intentionally, ideally you are planning all of the music before Ash Wednesday with a pretty solid setlist til Pentecost. This makes it easy to carry over, use good repetition, drive certain themes home and so on. Notice I didn't say til Easter, I said Pentecost and that mindset for planning is so crucial for the climb down. If you just try to just slide down the mountain without an organized plan you are likely to crash and likely to get lost and put yourself in a worse position. Plan thoroughly and plan carefully. 

I know there is a lot to take in with this article. Take your time, save it so you can come back to it later. Remember to have patience with yourself and your teams. Focus all you do on honoring Christ.

Did this article help you? Be sure to save and share for others who need help navigating the Holiday Climb & the Holiday Slide!

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HE IS RISEN! HAPPY EASTER!

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