The Faithful Few: Stop Apologizing for Summer Ministry

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses how church leaders often apologize for lower summer attendance, viewing it as a negative rather than seeing the committed attendees as valuable. He suggests shifting the focus from those who are absent to those who are present, emphasizing the importance of investing in and celebrating these key members. This perspective change can foster a greater sense of community and opportunity within the church. Rhoades challenges listeners to revise their summer communications to reflect abundance and appreciation, rather than scarcity and apology. • Stop apologizing for low summer attendance. • View committed attendees as valuable and not as 'leftovers'. • Focus on who's present rather than who's missing. • Summer is an opportunity for quality community interaction. • Shift communication from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. • Encourage staff to celebrate faithfulness over numbers. • Challenge to rewrite summer communications positively.

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Transcript

Summer Slump Guilt Creeps In

SPEAKER_00 0:07

It's June and you're already starting to have to look at what seems to be half empty roads again. The kids' minister coordinator just sent another apologetic text about low numbers. The worship pastor's asking cancel the special service that you have planned. And you're doing the thing where you start your announcements with, hey, I know it's summer, but just stop.

Stop Apologizing To Faithful People

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Stop. Stop apologizing for the summer. You're treating your most faithful people like consolation prizes. And we're going to talk about that today here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. My name's Shad Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at ChemistryStaffing.com. What if summer isn't exactly the problem that you think it is? The faithful few deserve a little bit better. These people chose to be in your service when they could be anywhere else. They could be at the lake, they could be on vacation. And in fact, while everybody else is at the lake, they're sitting there right in your service while others are sleeping in. They're serving kids and kids ministry. They're not leftovers, they're your most committed people, and you keep apologizing for them.

Deficit Language Hurts Your Culture

SPEAKER_00 1:18

But here's what we're really doing when we apologize for summer. We measure success by who's missing instead of who's present. And we plan like future is like failure is inevitable. We communicate scarcity instead of abundance. And maybe most importantly, our language itself telegraphs disappointment to the people who showed up. Hey, I know it's just us, but and that becomes the summer mantra. Now I get it. I get it. Lower numbers absolutely feel discouraging. They feel really discouraging. But let me suggest to you today. It's let me suggest to you today that maybe we're looking at this maybe completely backwards.

Quality Over Quantity In Summer

SPEAKER_00 2:02

These people are gold, not leftovers, the people that show up. Summer attendance is quality over quantity in action. Your most committed leaders surface when the crowd thins out. And this is a real opportunity because real community happens not in spite of small numbers, but because of small numbers. Stop saying, hey, it's just us and start saying, hey, look who's here. Summer is actually a great time to invest deeply in your core people. So space it gives you some space to try things that you can't when it's packed. And gives you time to get some clarity about who's really bought into the mission. And really, if you think about it, ministry opportunities for the people abound. It's not just for the people who get lost in the crowd. There's less crowd management and more actual shepherding that's possible.

A Communication Rewrite Challenge

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Your staff feels this deficit mindset too. They're apologizing for numbers instead of celebrating faithfulness, they're planning defensively instead of opportunistically. And your language shapes their expectations and their energy as well. So when you shift, they shift. Here's the bottom line. Stop treating summer. Stop treating this summer. Stop treating this Sunday like something that you just have to survive and wait for the fall. Start treating it like something to steward. Here's your challenge. This week, I'd love you to rewrite one piece of summer communication. Remove every apologetic phrase about attendance. Replace all that deficit language with abundance language. And thank people for choosing to be there. Don't apologize for those that aren't. Because you see, your faithful few are watching how you respond to their faithfulness. Don't let them down. I hope this was helpful for you on this

Subscribe And Come Back Tomorrow

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Monday. My name's Todd Rhodes, you're listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. We will be right back here all week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And I hope that you'll join me every day if you're not subscribing to this podcast, wherever you're listening right now. Go ahead and hit subscribe, and I'll see you tomorrow.