Comments on: August is the New September

By: Paul Wilkinson

Paul Wilkinson — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:06:37 +0000

In Ontario, Canada we have a “summer shutdown” mentality as well as a “cottage” mentality. Even if you don’t own a cottage, it’s assumed that’s where you are. So it was with some surprise about ten years ago we found ourselves attending a Canadian church that simply refused to miss a beat over the summer months. (Except with regard to mid-week kids’ programming.) Their faithfulness and dedication didn’t go unnoticed. The needs of people don’t take a vacation. And attendance at worship, like other spiritual disciplines, shouldn’t suffer a loss of continuity.

By: David

David — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:04:16 +0000

We were just talking about those numbers today. Our two biggest non-holiday weekends are the first weekend after New Years Day (think resolutions) and the first and second weekends in August (think getting back in sync after Summer). We are all over those weekends.

By: Pianorev

Pianorev — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:06:28 +0000

This is agreat conversation. In Northern ontario (Sudbury)canada…kind of across from Michigan, people begin to leave us for their summer homes/cottages the long weekend in May. Many do not return untill Canadian thanksgiving early October. This makes for a very short church calendar year in which to get anything done. Our Major industries are semi-shut July and August. This summer we are putting our best foot forward by slightly reducing the intesinty of our media presentations and only one worship team. We do a lot of consolidation to try and present quality.we also broadcast live each sunday on radio to help the cottagers and campers stay connected. We use an Automatic debit system for offerings which keeps our finances reasonably strong wehile attendance drops to 50%. Thanks for the feedback, every body.

By: Rusty Williams

Rusty Williams — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:36:13 +0000

I completely agree. Over the past few years I have noticed that May has become the month that everyone in church falls off the face of the earth and the middle of August is the time we see new people come and regulars return on a consistent basis. I really am not sure why this is but I was completely frustrated until we finally just adapted our operations to it. I send a letter out every year about remaining faithful in tithing through the summer months. The last 2 years I thought I was being proactive because I had planned to send it out in the beginning of June. By the end of May we were feeling it big time. This year I sent it out in the beginning of May and I definitely notice the difference. It’s so interesting that you are talking about this. I thought it was just something to do with the Pennsylvania crowd.

By: The Church Bartender

The Church Bartender — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:14:54 +0000

Craig,

I’m so glad that you’ve taken what churches have labeled as ’slumps’ and turned them upside down. Yes people travel at certain times of the year, but salvation, heaven, hell, etc…. those aren’t seasonal are they. I dig that many churches are starting to lay down the excuses for ’summer slumps’ and are recognizing that summer is just a different season and that there are still fish that are hungry and bitting. I just landed a four pound bass in the middle of the day after my brother said, “hey man, don’t go, nothing’s bitting this time of day….” Let’s just say he wasn’t complaining after we grilled it and ate it.

By: The Church Bartender

The Church Bartender — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:13:40 +0000

Craig,

I’m so glad that you’ve taken what churches have labeled as ’slumps’ and turned them upside down. Yes people travel at certain times of the year, but salvation, heaven, hell, etc…. those are seasonal are they. I dig that many churches are starting to lay down the excuses for ’summer slumps’ and are recognizing that summer is just a different season and that there are still fish that are hungry and bitting. I just landed a four pound bass in the middle of the day after my brother said, “hey man, don’t go, nothing’s bitting this time of day….” Let’s just say he wasn’t complaining after we grilled it and ate it.

By: Dwight Weber

Dwight Weber — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:59:21 +0000

I’m not saying your wrong but I’m going to really watch this August to see if your right for two reasons: 1. here in Michigan this is the second year that it is illegal to start school until after Labor Day. This has backed everything up and caused many to delay vacations until August. 2. I could agree if we are talking about church-changers. Because their programming slows down and no one will notice if they are gone they just might feel free to church shop. The problem is that they bring with them a whole new set of expectation that I’m not sure if we ever meet. If the Lord is leading them to make a switch, OK but moving furniture in the kingdom is not reaching our community.

By: Vivian

Vivian — Sat, 31 May 2008 03:07:09 +0000

oh well…. while they are fasting at Seacoast, we are “praying and feasting” at Church of the Highlands in B’ham., AL. for 21 days. In August we gather at the church at 6am. One of the pastors will share from the Word, we worship and intercede for the lost until 7am. Afterwards the Starbucks coffee is flowing and fellowship for those who can hang around. The statistics are amazing. We are asking for the lost and they just seem to suddenly be everywhere and strangely hungry for something “more” than the life they are living. It is so much fun to be part of the harvesting.

By: Jim Henry

Jim Henry — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:06:49 +0000

The last couple years it seems like we’ve started picking up in mid-August. The place empties for the holiday weekend and then explodes from there on. It seems like Mid- August is a pretty good way for us anticipate the fall…

By: Bill (cycleguy)

Bill (cycleguy) — Fri, 30 May 2008 20:46:30 +0000

We have mixed results. Our school starts about the 3rd week of August but the summer fun still continues. We live in a “play” area and we also have lots of people who like to take the weekends to play even when school is in. It isn’t even until September that those weekend fun trips end or slow down. Also I have only been through 2 Augusts so I am unsure what to expect. But I will track it this year and see what happens. May I suggest that you consider re-visiting this topic in late September or early October to see what the results were now that people will be tracking it?

By: Dan Borchert

Dan Borchert — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:07:08 +0000

Maybe we are just wierd. My thought was always “wait until the week after Labor Day”. So I planned around that. Turned out that was the worst attended week of all. We now wait to the end of Sept or beginning of Oct before that big push. For whatever reason June and July are not that bad as far as attendance. Then August just tanks. However, I love having August to get ready for the end of September.

By: Tyler Braun

Tyler Braun — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:46:47 +0000

I have to disagree. The best summer month in Oregon is August. People vacation more in August I think because school doesn’t start until after Labor Day. We could push August at our church, but so many people are hit and miss that month.

By: Kevan

Kevan — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:42:45 +0000

My church, Gracepoint, has the UC Berkeley campus as one of its core ministries. When the fall semester starts in late August, everyone in the church has been going and executing on our ministry plans at full clip since the beginning of the month. One thing I really enjoy is that after a full month’s of ministry throughout August, we have a one-day retreat over the Labor Day Weekend in September to reflect, refresh, and renew.

By: Brandon Duff

Brandon Duff — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:32:05 +0000

Just to follow up with my earlier comment. I got feedback from four other pastors in my area (near Niagara Falls, Ontario). They all agree that August attendance has been growing, but they still have not been able to engage people until September. This may be a mindset on their part…not sure. Most feel that people are still in vacation mode until September and then into the back to school frenzy. The all felt that it actually takes until October to get people fully engaged. Our area is a heavy tourist area and we also have a large University and a Community College. Many lives are dictated by tourism and school calendars. This may be the reason or we may be just a little behind the curve, based on the reports of higher attendance in August.
It’s good to monitor this and to get us thinking about it.

By: bob robbins

bob robbins — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:25:35 +0000

Last summer I was terrified because we were a brand new church and what would summer do to us. We continued to grow through the summer. August was better attended than September and I think that’s because most people here see August as back-to-school time.

By: Andy Wood

Andy Wood — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:44:42 +0000

This is certainly true for us, and has been for several years - ever since somebody in Texas decided that school should start in early-danged August (that changed this year back to something more reasonable).

It’s magnified by the fact that we live in a college town, and pretty much the whole city runs on the school’s calendar. At the church we literally plan - and calendar - by semesters - spring, fall, summer. And those semesters are school semesters, not traditional calendar stuff.

By: Chilly

Chilly — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:40:27 +0000

With schools starting earlier & earlier and the soaring prices of gas, I think we should expect MORE from August.
- in a previous post, I mentioned our August block parties, well, another thing we do is collect backpacks over the summer (donations from Walmart, Target, etc) and ask our people to fill them with school supplies - we add age appropriate Bibles, music, etc.
- then we do a ‘back-to-school’ Sunday (advertised weeks before) and bless the children of our community.
- we also invite school workers: teachers, custodians, volunteers & administration. we pray and CHEER for them!

*to be honest, we expect growth all summer long - we’re excited!

By: JK

JK — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:24:09 +0000

We have seen this trend for the past few years. Last August we broke our all time non-Easter weekend attendance record two weeks in a row. We were really not ready for the growth and I believe we missed some opportunities to reach and retain the new people. We have now shifted our plans for this year including series topics, voulnteer training and small group infrastructure. Rather than waiting until September to have all these ready to launch we will be ready August 1.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:13:40 +0000

We’re in Michigan and we only get about 10-12 great weeks of summer. Because we’re tourism based, school’s are not allowed to start until after Labor Day. While it’s true that school sports and bands start about the second week of August - many of the people are still squeeking out vacation time, or just going camping for the weekend. We have seen a slight shift though - which would hold true with your point - our biggest month used to be October, but September is leveling that out now. Interesting. Oh, and July is by FAR our worst attendance month.

By: Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:11:43 +0000

Brandon, I am guessing with school starting after Labor Day, August won’t be as strong for your church. Please tell us what you learn from your emails to other churches.
Amy asked how to bring back leaders in July and August. July might be a little tougher… but in many places, I think they are back in August.