How to Plan for a Revival

By JERRY FULTON

Editor, Baptist Progress

For years, many Baptist churches have conducted spring and fall revivals. However, revival meetings should not simply be spring and fall affairs that are scheduled at the same time each year because of tradition. Once it is determined that your church stands in need of revival, then a revival meeting should be scheduled and well planned. Blessings come when wholehearted efforts are made. The following is an article that was published in both the August 30, 2006 and June 17, 2009 issues of Baptist Progress.

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Todd West Evangelistic Ministries was formed in August 1996. Since that time he has ministered in 12 states in approximately 275 evangelistic campaigns. One ministry tool that aids in making West’s evangelistic campaigns so successful is a revival preparation packet he sends ahead of time to the church or association of churches hosting his revival meetings. Any church would be wise to use the information from his packet in preparation for their next revival. A summary of suggestions given in the packet are below.

Assign Special Themes for Each Service

  • Sunday night — Sunday School Night
  • Monday night — Friend Night
  • Tuesday night — Pack a Pew Night
  • Wednesday night — Student (Youth) Night

 

Recruit a Team

In preparation for the revival the pastor or event coordinator should choose a prayer coordinator, a publicity coordinator, a Sunday School Night coordinator, a Friend Night coordinator, a Pack-a-Pew Night coordinator and a Student Night coordinator.


Countdown Checklist


The pastor and each coordinator are given checklists with assignments to preform leading up to the revival. The checklists are as follows:

PASTOR’S CHECKLIST

5 weeks before revival

  • Select coordinators and get a firm commitment from them. Give them their checklists.
  • Schedule a meeting for next Sunday with your team of coordinators.

4 weeks before revival

  • Meet with your team of coordinators on Sunday for their training.
  • During the week, call each coordinator and ask if they have any questions about their assignment and offer your assistance.                                                                                  
2 weeks before revival
  • Consider making this Sunday, Revival Preparation Day. As pastor, you could use this opportunity to preach a message that would cast the vision of what could happen in the upcoming revival meeting.
  • Meet with your team to make sure their assignments are being completed, and spend some time praying for the revival.

1 week before revival

  • Attend as many home prayer groups as possible this week.
  • Week of revival

PRAYER COORDINATOR’S CHECKLIST

4 weeks before revival

  • Attend coordinator’s training session with your pastor.
  • Schedule a brief meeting with all Sunday school teachers for next week.

3 weeks before revival

  • Meet with Sunday school teachers and ask them to schedule a home prayer meeting with their class one week before revival, and to notify you of the time and place.

2 weeks before revival

  • Get a schedule of home prayer groups to the person who does the announcements, bulletin or PowerPoint for your church. Also, consider posting them at strategic locations within the church building.

1 week before revival

  • Prayer groups meet in homes.

PUBLICITY COORDINATOR’S CHECKLIST

4 weeks before revival

  • Attend coordinator's training session with your pastor.
  • Meet with the pastor about other advertising opportunities (television, radio, newspaper, mass mailouts) and start getting prices.

3 weeks before revival

  • Order ads for newspaper, radio and TV.

1 week before revival

  • Hand out printed invitation cards at the close of the morning service for members to send to friends. Special “You’re Invited Cards” may be purchased at www.outreach.com or 800-991- 6011.

SUNDAY SCHOOL COORDINATOR’S CHECKLIST

Sunday night is your big night!

  • Sunday afternoon (1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.) instruct all Sunday school teachers to call everyone in their class as well as class prospects to get a commitment from them to be back on Sunday evening. Ask teachers to report back to you by phone to let you know how many commitments they received.

  • Sunday night, have Sunday school classes sit together for worship in the auditorium. This will create some excitement and also emphasize the importance of Sunday school for your church. Ask your Sunday school teachers to instruct their class members to sit together.

4 weeks before revival

  • Attend coordinator’s training session with your pastor.

1 week before revival

  • Meet with teachers and share with them what you need for them to do next Sunday.

FRIEND NIGHT COORDINATOR’S CHECKLIST

4 weeks before revival

  • Attend coordinator’s training session with your pastor.
  • Begin printing prayer cards.

3 weeks before revival

  • Print “Be My Friend” stickers.

2 weeks before revival

  • Some time during the morning service ask everyone to fill out the prayer card that was given to them as they entered the auditorium/worship center. Ask them to place the prayer card on the altar.

1 week before revival

  • Make sure stickers are printed and ready to be distributed.
  • Make plans to attend a prayer meeting this week hosted by your Sunday school class..
    Week of revival
  • Sunday evening, hand out stickers to people as they are leaving the service. Make sure the pastor encourages people to wear them all day on Monday and use them to invite people to Friend Night.

PACK-A-PEW COORDINATOR’S CHECKLIST

    Selecting Pew Captains

    • Going row by row in the auditorium, think of a person who normally sits on each pew who could persuade everyone else on their pew to be present on Tuesday night and to also bring a guest with them. Contact them and tell them you have selected them to be pew captain, and that they will be responsible for making contact with those who normally sit on their pew to ensure their attendance on Tuesday night and to enourage those on their pew to bring a guest.

    Seating Floor Plan

    • Draw a seating floor plan of your church auditorium, placing a name on each pew. Monday evening, following the revival service, place the name of each pew captain on the pew in preparation for Tuesday’s Pack-a-Pew Night.

    4 weeks before revival

    • Attend coordinator’s training session with your pastor.
    • Design floor plan and select pew captains.

    2 weeks before revival

    • Recruit pew captains and get a firm commitment from them. Explain to them what they are responsible for on Pack-a-Pew Night.

    1 week of revival

    • Make plans to attend one of the home group prayer meetings.

    Week of revival

    • Sunday, call your pew captains and ask them to make contact with everyone that normally sits on their pew and get a commitment from them to be present and invite a guest for Tuesday night.
    • Monday night, after the revival service has concluded, post the names of each pew captain on their pew in preparation for the Tuesday night service.


STUDENT NIGHT COORDINATOR’S CHECKLIST

Wednesday night is your big night!

  • Host a Pizza Pig Out!!! Pizza tickets are the key to the success of this event. Please do not cut corners in this area! Think big! If your church has 20 students (1st to 12th grade) print 200 tickets and have your students distribute all of them to their friends. Typically, you can expect 10% of those who receive a ticket to attend and in some cases the response will be much higher. The ticket should look professional and include the name of the church, the time of the Pizza Pig Out, FREE ALL YOU CAN EAT PIZZA in large letters and the name of the evangelist.

4 weeks before revival

  • Attend coordinator’s training session with your pastor.
  • Make arrangements for Pizza Pig Out tickets to be printed.

2 weeks before revival

  • Visit the Sunday school classes of students and share with them some of the plans for Student Night.

1 week before revival

  • Encourage students to attend their class this week. DO NOT require Sunday school attendance as a prerequisite for attending Pizza Pig Out! The students’ opportunity to hear the Gospel is more important than Sunday school attendance. If you get them to attend the Pig Out, you just might get them to Sunday school the next week. Better still, if you get them to the Pig Out, you just might might win them to Jesus!

Week of revival

  • Sunday morning, hand out Pizza Pig Out tickets to students.
  • Tuesday, order pizzas.
  • Start Pizza Pig Out one to one and a half hours before services.

 

Note: If your revival services extend through Friday evening, other nightly theme suggestions include:

  • Community Night — Invite community leaders and their families (mayor, city manager, police chief, fire chief, city councilmen, county judge, county commissioner, etc.)
  • Children’s Night — Have a similar event as the Student Night Pizza Pig Out.