Planning an Evangelistic Event: Takeaways from BarnFest
It's been three years since Counties Evangelist Tim Cracknell sold the cows on his family farm and the idea was born to use the now-empty barn for an evening to celebrate all God is doing. When the idea was first discussed, Tim and Katrina had no idea what they were starting, with this slightly wacky idea of a barn in the middle of nowhere and a space where people could encounter Jesus.
Roll the clock forward to July this year and the third BarnFest has been another success. This was a weekend organised by Counties Connect in conjunction with 70 volunteers from six local churches, which drew in almost 900 people from 80 churches.
Here are Tim’s eight take-a-ways for organising an event like this:
Have a clear vision and aim for your event: Our aim was for people to come to Barnfest and encounter Jesus. It is important to have a simple and clearly communicated vision. It will enable churches to get behind you as they know what you are trying to do. Then stick to it!
Draw a key team around you: A small team of the willing - don’t be a Lone Ranger, but don’t wait for the perfect team, otherwise you will not do anything! This was the third year of running Barnfest and we started with two churches and as the event has grown more churches have caught the vision and requested to be on board with it. Next year we expect to have more churches to be involved. Usually people need to come along once before they catch the vision for the event. Once they see it, they feel it and they then want to be part of it. If we had waited until lots of churches were willing to be involved it would never have happened! Start with a small team of the willing. If God is in it, it will grow from there.
Secure the most important elements first: Sound/AV, speaker/s, musicians, catering, etc. You can have the best event in the world but if people can’t hear, you are wasting your time, so unapologetically invest in the best tech team you can get. The sound team is the first conversation we have in preparation for each year. Then book up the rest.
Inspire people by sharing stories: This will take work to find the stories and often using an interview style is the best way to deliver them to keep the person on track. When people hear stories from their locality of God at work, it raises the temperature in the room and they become inspired, encouraged and motivated. At BarnFest, it is the real-life stories that people go away talking about.
Have less planning meetings and more doing instead: Busy church leaders go to far too many pointless meetings. Meetings are the death of activists; they need to be doing. It is so easy for “planning meetings” to go over the same ground reminding everyone of the things they have not done and should have done. It is much better to have less meetings to leave time for the doing part. The part of getting on and putting the plans into operation. The first year we had no planning meetings! This year we had three and then held everyone accountable through a WhatsApp group chat, email and the odd phone call. Thirty-minute group video calls are another way to stay on track without driving people crazy with meeting overload.
Remember to K.I.S.S. = Keep It Simple Stupid! Simple is always better. Resist the temptation to be too clever, you will over complicate it and end up confusing everyone. That means a simple programme of events, simple service, simple plan of refreshments, etc. Leave people at the end with a desire to want more. We started with one service and BBQ. Over the three years we have added a second service, seminar, full complimentary children’s programme, 4 meals and games. Next year we will add more but we have focused on adding one thing at a time. Every extra you add brings in new levels of complexity so K.I.S.S. is good. Keep It Simple Stupid!
Empower local people: God has given you gifted people among you who have skills that you probably don’t even realise they have. Release them to serve with joy by trusting them to rise to the occasion. We had around 70 volunteers serving from 10 different churches during Barnfest and the worship band were able to showcase musicians from 4 local churches. The same was true for the catering team, children’s team, stewards, car park team, tech team and all the other teams. There is a lot of fun to be had by serving alongside people from other churches that you don’t normally get to meet or work with. It spreads the load and enables people to grow and use their gifts on a wider stage for the glory of God. We don’t have to call in the “experts” all the time. You probably have them amongst you, it’s just that you haven’t recognised them!
Seek out feedback: We are not always good at giving or receiving feedback, but it is vital. It is either non-existent or only comes when things are falling apart and given harshly. Neither are desirable. Feedback is the breakfast of champions! Embrace it and reflect on it a few days after the event when you are not tired. Then use the salient points to sharpen your focus for the next event. Don’t obsess on the odd negative comment that is out of line with the main thrust of feedback. Do as Billy Graham suggested; “chew on them for a while, then spit them out and if any flavour is left in your mouth, act on it!” Embracing feedback will enable you to grow and become a great steward of all that God has entrusted to you. Seek it out and share it with your team. Your next event will be all the better for it!