2023 is almost here, and if you’re like many pastors, your preaching calendar for next year is a cursor blinking on a blank page. Sometimes this is the hardest place to be. Planning for an entire year can be intimidating. However, taking the first step to get started can lead to many benefits for both you and your church.
By planning out your 2023 Preaching Calendar, you can reap these benefits:
- You can take time to listen to God’s will for what your church will learn in the coming year
- You can provide yourself with more time to study for each series throughout the year
- You can feel confident that you are prepared each week to write your sermon rather than scrambling to decide on a topic
- You can have more time on the weekends for your family rather than last-minute sermon planning
If these benefits sounds like something you want in the coming year, planning your schedule for preaching for the entire is for you. There are many ways to plan an annual preaching calendar, but, no matter what your method is, there are some evergreen principles are good to keep in mind. Here are a handful of things you can now to help get started on prepping for the coming year’s messages.
Plan Themes for the Entire Year
Rather than thinking about this process as selecting sermon topics for 52 weeks of the year, consider the 5-12 themes you feel are most important to cover throughout the year. Once you have these themes in place, then you can get more specific by setting what you’ll teach in each week’s message. In this part of the process, narrow down your planning by quarter or by series. By breaking down the preaching calendar into smaller segments, the process will be more achievable.
Plan for Variety
Likely you have topics that you gravitate toward when you preach. This is good because you have deep insight on those principles or sections of scripture that you share. However, preaching on a variety of discipleship topics, Old Testament and New Testament, and introspective vs outer looking themes will help your congregation stay engaged as they learn more about scripture.
Plan for the Calendar Year
You’ll definitely want to plan for holidays throughout your preaching calendar. Often it’s easiest to place these holiday sermons on your calendar first so you can see the gaps in non-seasonal times, giving you the ability to determine the length and placement of series on the calendar.
Plan to Get Help along the Way
If the thought of going it alone with setting your preaching calendar sequence is overwhelming, know that there are resources available to help you. For instance, our team has put together a 2023 Preaching Calendar to help you get started. The calendar covers all the major holidays, including Good Friday, Christmas Eve, etc. In addition, you’ll find series on books and characters in the Bible (Romans, Amos, Elisha) as well as discipleship principles (unity, prayer, trust in God). Calendars like this can be used in part or in their entirety, or you can simply look at the themes that other pastors are preaching about in the coming year to give you ideas.
Plan for What Is Important to Your Congregation
You know your congregation well. It’s always good to look to a community of other pastors, like SermonSearch, to see the messages that other pastors are sharing. It’s best, though, for you to consider and pray about what your congregation needs to hear the most in the coming year. Where do they need to grow deeper? Do you have many young families in your congregation? Plan to preach a series on family, marriage, or parenting. Has the past year brought interpersonal challenges for your church? Preach a series on unity or vision. Select sermon themes that meet your current congregation where they are. Take this opportunity focus on the people sitting in the services now so you serve them well.
Plan for Deviations
While planning a preaching calendar comes with the best of intentions, the plan should not be set in stone. There are times in the year to come where you may feel God leading you deviate from the sermons you originally planned to preach. Follow this prompting and change direction. There may also be times when events occur in your church or community that you may feel led to preach about. Preaching a sermon on something that is relevant and time-sensitive can often make a greater impact on your church’s spiritual growth.
Plan for Time in Prayer to Follow God’s Guiding
Most of all, don’t begin any of this planning without first going to your knees in prayer. Allow God to walk you through each step of this planning process so He is the one guiding your words and teaching each week. Pray for His will and guidance above all each week of the year as you plan to preach.
