Just about every year that I have been in ministry at least once, I will take some time to review the past year. Yesterday and today I updated my calendars (it’s back-to-school time you know), and in order to do this you have to look back over the past year. I look for events that need to be repeated (added to the current calendar) and evaluate events that don’t need to make it to this year.

While I did not intentionally set this pattern of yearly evaluation, I have found it to be very helpful. If you don’t have a time to step back (out of the system) and ask the hard questions, you will continue to do what you know (what you are familiar with). Often times when you keep repeating something simply because it was on last years calendar, and don’t evaluate, it will eventually lose it effectiveness and freshness. Get your people to ask, “Why are we doing this again?”

Also, people’s schedules are so busy – so if you keep adding things but never take anything away, the calendar becomes crowed and people will just tire out. So, focus on what’s the best and let the good and the bad go to wherever deleted items go in cyberspace.

So, for this year, I have decided to cut a couple of events (that to be honest probably won’t even be missed) and I am adding some new ideas and events to the calendar. I also think there is something to trying new things, simply to try something new. (By the way, it doesn’t always have to something “new”, it can be something old just repackaged.)

Anyway, the future is bright or at least clear of clutter.