Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

The concussive bursts added a heartbeat, and my eardrums thrummed for hours.

But it was so worth it, to see the sky rain fire. To watch explosions of color, whites and golds, reds and blues and greens, paint the night.

Cincinnati has an unusual tradition of fireworks on Labor Day weekend. And these aren’t just any fireworks, but thirty minutes of brilliant choreography, framed by two of the Ohio River bridges.

And my viewing perch wasn’t just any spot but twenty-four floors up, perfectly centered between the bridges and in front of the barge, where the fireworks were launched. At this height, I felt a part of the sky, a part of the show.

When you’re that close, when the fireworks seem just a fingertip away, you notice things. Even before the rocket exploded in the sky, the next one was lit and launched. Another round was sidling up to the practice mound. The entire show was scripted and rehearsed so that even when an errant firework floundered, few noticed.

Maybe it’s a reach but I thought about the dedication to planning that undergirded the evening. Sure, we would have enjoyed a random showing of fireworks but instead we were dazzled, in part because of good planning. The fireworks exhibitors always knew what was coming next, which wick to light, which rockets to prepare. 

In the church, we spend a lot of time playing catch-up and responding to the urgent. Good planning can’t mitigate the emergency call in the middle of the night. But good planning can help us to be ready when that call comes in. 

Good planning means we’ve already charted out the coming year of Christian formation programs. We have selected the Advent study and recruited teachers for the Lenten programs. We have the dates set for the women’s retreat and the ministry fair. The youth group has brought home a calendar of events to tack onto the refrigerator. 

That’s not to say that the schedule is in stone. If, heaven forbid, a catastrophe occurs or current events dictate a change, we’re ready. We’re nimble, and we can substitute a Sunday School program or adult forum. But we can only do that if we’ve planned well enough in advance so we’re not in a constant state of scrambling. 

For many churches, the program year begins this week. Hopefully most of the planning has been done. But if it hasn't, it’s not too late. Schedule a meeting with the stakeholders—music ministry, Altar Guild, Christian formation and youth leaders, clergy, and administrators. Move through the calendar month by month, setting dates, making decisions on times and costs, and assigning responsibilities. 

I suspect this meeting won’t rank among the top twenty most exciting gatherings of your life. But it certainly will help. And who knows: it may even dazzle.