8 Inspiring Ideas for Church Anniversary Celebrations

[00:00:00] Speaker A: One of the best ways to encourage your church is to celebrate your church's anniversary. But after a few years, sometimes maybe the ideas have become a little bit stale on what you can do to celebrate that anniversary. In this conversation, we're going to unpack eight of our favorite ideas that we've heard from churches all over the world. Let's do this. You're listening to The Reach Right podcast, the show Dead, dedicated to helping your church reach more people and grow. [00:00:30] Speaker B: Well. [00:00:30] Speaker A: Hey, guys, I'm Thomas. [00:00:32] Speaker B: And I'm ian. [00:00:33] Speaker A: And today we're talking about church anniversary celebrations and want to share some ideas that we've heard over the years that successful growing churches are doing and using during their church anniversary. I think that it's something that some churches do this and some churches don't. They don't celebrate their anniversaries. I imagine in my experiences, I'll say this is that younger churches tend to celebrate their anniversaries more often, whereas older churches that are established and I'm talking about some of these mainline ones that are even 100 plus years old. Right. It'd be weird if you celebrate it every year from it's our 113th year anniversary or whatever it would be usually those kind of maybe go in increments of the big fifty s and those kinds of things, maybe doing less, I don't know. But I think this is usually something we see that's a bigger deal for younger churches. A new church plant will celebrate every year. They'll do a church anniversary celebration. Churches after their fifth year probably do it every five years or so. They'll do some kind of a celebration. So I think it's a good thing to do, though. Agree, Ian? Agreed. [00:01:43] Speaker B: Something my church has done, you know, my church's story, but started as a plant in the Round Rock local library with about ten to 15 people, and now, of course, thousands in multiple campuses and locations. So it's a big deal to my church, just all of the milestones we've had and the growth and where we've moved from year to year. And you're right, Thomas. We've seen not every church celebrates them a lot do. Some it's a really big deal, too. Some just not so much of a big deal. [00:02:18] Speaker A: Do you know how old your church is now? What was your last anniversary? Do you remember? 20 years. [00:02:23] Speaker B: Yeah, that was our last one that we just recently celebrated. [00:02:26] Speaker A: Yeah. So you guys probably are down to, like every five years, you do something special, you'll do something big for 25, probably, you think, but not 21 or 22, I wouldn't think. Right. [00:02:35] Speaker B: I think that's the way they do it now that you're making every year draw a blank. Yeah, I know. It's mentioned every year. Now, as far as how big we go, it's not that way every year. [00:02:48] Speaker A: What did you guys do for the 20th anniversary? I'm sure we'll talk about some of the ideas. [00:02:55] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Some of these things we're mentioning, but we call it an anniversary service and we vision cast. We kind of remind the church refresh what our vision is, what our purpose is, and all sorts of stuff that I don't want to spoil it because. [00:03:16] Speaker A: It'S a lot of you guys do, all of them, but they don't just come from Ian's church. This isn't a list of things that Ian's church does. No, Anniversaries, this is a list of things we've heard from churches that seem to get results for them. So I know I've seen them at my churches, churches I've led, churches I've been a part of. So I'll kick us off, though. The first one is to have some kind of a exhibit or timeline, kind of showcasing the history of the church and what has happened at the church. My first church that I was in ministry at, it was in Northern California, and there were some stairs that the primary entrance. You would walk up some stairs to get to the main sanctuary. And we used that space to decorate the walls of basically from the start of the church all the way to the end. And I don't know, it's just so fun not to the end. The church didn't end. It's still going today. But till that present time, I think that was the 15 year anniversary that I was there for at that time. So we have the stairs all decorated and it was basically functioned as a timeline where you'd start at the beginning and some of those initial services. And it was so fun for everybody to see. They always love seeing their pastors and what they used to look like 15 or 20 years ago and see the kids that they're now adults and serving alongside them. That's kind of neat to see. But I just think there's something about this when you see those familiar faces and what things used to be. I know at your church from the Round Rock Library on, it would be so different. But I just love this idea of kind of a timeline or something that people can actually physically get into to see where we were, where we've been and where we're going. [00:04:59] Speaker B: No, that's it exactly. Yeah. I think the timeline, that's kind of one we think of first especially well, it depends on how long I guess it's been for church. But if you can go quite a ways back, there is a lot that you can show there. It made me, when you were talking about that, think of my church when my pastor, as you know, is a former college football player and was a lineman. He's a big guy, and when they first started the church, he was a lot bigger and he's lost a lot of weight since then. So it is funny to see his old pictures when they started, when they were probably doing a lot of potlucks. And now, of course, he's watching things and it has lost a lot of weight. [00:05:37] Speaker A: I only have known him trim. I didn't know that he was big when the church started. [00:05:41] Speaker B: No, he was up there. So good for him and that progress. [00:05:46] Speaker A: That he's made back to his fighting weight. [00:05:48] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right. But no, I'll get the next one and I kind of already did is the anniversary service would be the next thing. So basically that's where you actually make the service, a special gathering of that and some ideas for that. It could be former pastors that were influential along the way and helping grow and pioneer the church and founders or even long. I know we've done this at my church. Long standing members that can get up there and recall the early days and some of the growth pains or the struggles and challenges and how God has led the church through that. I think that's one other way to make it special. [00:06:31] Speaker A: Does your church do your anniversary service it's the same time as your normal Sunday services or do you do like a special another service? [00:06:40] Speaker B: We do it at the same time. We just make it acknowledge it as the anniversary service. [00:06:46] Speaker A: There's worship and there's a sermon and a lot of that is the same, but there's some extra components in there is what you guys do, right? That's what I think most churches are doing, is just something that makes it stand out. There's some things that maybe yeah, I love the idea of having former pastors or people maybe that were sent out from the church and having them come back and just be able to celebrate and see people that they love and just kind of celebrate. The other ministry that's been launched out of your church is always so cool to see that way. So, yeah, love that idea of an anniversary service. Next one is a community service project. Love this idea as well. I've seen some churches go lots of different routes with this and different ways to get involved in the community. But what better way to make an impact is that at your birthday that you're celebrating other people, that you're doing nice things for your community, whether it be a one time project or a major cleanup. I heard one church that this is kind of a community service and then kind of for them, but they actually built a playground at their church for their anniversary one year. I think it was their 20 year anniversary, they built a community playground. So it wasn't like a playground for their children, exclusive for the it was something that people could come to during daylight hours. The whole community was welcome to come and it was like a good playground, like the best one in the community there. So all kinds of families would come there. And it was such a great idea because it's a great way to engage with them and makes your church familiar to people all over the community because they know that there's this place they can come and play in a safe environment with their kids and yeah, it's a really cool idea. [00:08:22] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think just to piggyback on that, thomas I think what it also says is a church anniversary celebration can really come off as a very internal thing, right. Because it's about your churches, your church's members that have been there forever. So it can almost make it seem like, hey, this is just kind of for us, not the newer people of the community. So this flip flops that and makes it more about outreach. And I think it comes off as very unselfish and just a great thing to do for outreach in the community. So I agree. Next one's a banquet. Who doesn't like food? Maybe this is after the church service, but an anniversary banquet where you have food, maybe some speeches, some music slideshow, stuff going on. But that's another way. If you didn't, maybe you'd still incorporate. You have an anniversary service, but maybe if you don't want to do that idea, have an additional kind of banquet thing as another option. So I like this idea, too. [00:09:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you guys do that at your church? [00:09:26] Speaker B: I'm trying to remember. We've been there for so long that we've changed it up at times. I don't know if we've done an anniversary banquet. We've done other kinds of banquets, but we will definitely, as far as, like, getting into new building and having members. [00:09:43] Speaker A: Come about, that more in number eight. There you go. [00:09:46] Speaker B: Some of these jump to the next ones easily. [00:09:49] Speaker A: Yeah. I like the idea of a banquet. I think depending on the size of your church, it goes well with an anniversary service. If you have some kind of a celebration or I don't know, there's something about having food there that makes it feel special. So even if you got an ice cream truck or I know one church that brought in the best taco truck that they had in town to come and give tacos to everybody after service there as part of a celebration. Love that idea. But there's lots of ways to do this. But food always makes it more memorable for people. So, yeah, I think that's a good. [00:10:21] Speaker B: Idea to show up. [00:10:23] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. They're more likely to show up when food is included. Next one is a commemorative video or book. I think a lot of churches do the video. Videos are really great because, again, it kind of is that same thing we talked about in the first one of the timeline, where you get to see where we've been and where we are now and where we're going. And it's so fun to see all of these people that you see up on the stage every week, see them looking different. You see the kids that were there and now they're all grown up. And that's just so fun to see with all of that. I really like the idea of a book. I've heard of churches doing this as well, just something that you could print out. It doesn't have to be really expensive. You can do these kinds of things for a few dollars each nowadays, but just something that is really picture heavy, lots of photography that just kind of tells the story of where the church has been and where it's going. And I think that's something that when we tell those kinds of stories, it gives people this new kind of deposit of kind of the courage to know that we can actually continue to do this, that we get the same change we've seen over the last 20 years. Well, we can expect the Lord to bring even more in the next 20 years because look at how much he's done and look at the difference that he's made in people's lives. So, yeah, these kinds of things are tangible reminders of that and I really like that idea. So a book might not be for everybody. If you're a church of a few hundred people, you might have to put in $1,000 or more to make something like that happen. But it could really be worth it to have something that's like a physical reminder of that for people. [00:11:53] Speaker B: Yeah, that's good. Nothing much to add there. [00:11:56] Speaker A: The book. [00:11:56] Speaker B: I would just say, yeah, that's going the extra mile for the right kind of church there. But next one here I think is creative, a time capsule. So creating a time capsule. So this might be certain church materials, letters from members, photos and predictions and hopes for the future and so to be opened at another future anniversary. And let's see what God did, or were our hopes misaligned with his? I'm kidding. But no, it's just unique. I personally have not come across a church that has done this, but I'm. [00:12:34] Speaker A: Sure I've heard of one once and they loved it, they raved about it. What I think it says is that it says that this church is here for the long haul. So if you're going to bury, let's say it's your 25 year anniversary, I can't think of a reason to open a time capsule in less than 25 years. So let's say you set it up to like, we're going to open this at our 50 year anniversary. So what it says to people, though, I guess, is that we are a church, that this is not a short term thinking, we have a long term plan, we're going somewhere, we believe we're going to stand the test of time. We know that most churches don't survive for 50 years. And so to have that kind of forward thinking, it's kind of an affirmation that, again, God is going to keep moving in our church over this next season here. So I really like the idea. I think it's fun. It doesn't cost you a lot. Yeah. [00:13:24] Speaker B: And it also shows that a church has vision and vision for the future. [00:13:28] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:29] Speaker B: Like you said, not just believing that they're going to be and planning that they're going to be around for years to come. It just shows that that church's vision, they're looking out ahead. We love working with those churches here at Reachwright that come to us. And they have a vision. They know who they are and they know where they want to be in the next five to ten years. And of course, this can be wisdom that each pastor or ministry leader should seek from the Lord, and every church is different on that, but vision is a good thing for the future. So I think it says that too. [00:13:57] Speaker A: Nice. Seven is testimonial night or morning. It doesn't really matter when you do the testimonial time, but I think that having some kind of a special service for this, or maybe this is part of a special anniversary service, is that you just bake in a lot of time for testimonials. There's nothing that's more encouraging than hearing all of the stories. And after doing church for, let's say it's a ten year anniversary, you're going to have dozens and dozens of people, if God has been moving in your church, that are willing to get up there and be able to share that. I was here and Jesus met me, and through the ministry of this church, I am here now. And there's really nothing more powerful than that. And I think an anniversary for a church is a great time to be celebrating these kinds of things. [00:14:43] Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's good, for sure. So not much more to add on that. But testimonies are always just something that I think they just naturally bring out what God's been doing at a church for years. Right. And from a lot of different people. They're very relevant to newer people, too. I think that's one thing I would add is if you're having newer visitors that haven't really been a part of the church for that long, when they're just hearing it out of the mouths of other people like them, be like, wow, yeah. This maybe is a place I do want to be at. And I'll have a story here before too long. [00:15:16] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:15:16] Speaker B: Or a testimony before too long. Last but not least, you mentioned I was going to get to this. You're right. My church has done this one too. But that is a special fundraiser for a church project. Right. Aren't the big churches known for fundraisers? I'm kidding. Not all of them. Are they're good things we did? [00:15:33] Speaker A: Kind of all are, but yeah, I guess so. There you go. [00:15:37] Speaker B: So you were more blunt and candid about it. As you know, a while back, we have a new building that has been built now, much larger than the one we had before on the same property, but I do believe it was during the church anniversary where we did a big kind of fundraiser on the hill. When I say on the hill, our church is on a hill. Big hill, very high elevated place in our city in the greater Austin area. And we had a big cross that was erected up there and where it was kind of just a fundraiser, where everyone was just kind of standing on the place where the building was going to be and praying and kind of pledging what they were going to be doing. And of course, doing that on an anniversary. And again, this is just one example. This could be for a new outreach. Your church has missionaries, all of that. So different things. But that's what it was for us. But it was a very special, memorable time. I still have actually, speaking of capsules, this is a little plastic capsule that I have with the rock that was from before the property was put on it. [00:16:48] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:16:49] Speaker B: So still have that as a great stuff. [00:16:51] Speaker A: Works, right? I mean, it gives you a tangible reminder of these things. So I think this is a great time to do it at an anniversary, to do some kind of a special initiative or give people opportunity to give towards another project of some kind. Again, we celebrate what was behind and we cast vision for what's ahead and where we're going as a church. And so I think that's really a great way to kind of build momentum towards that as an anniversary is a perfect time to do that. It goes well with the anniversary banquet, kind of having a celebration and really giving people an opportunity to take that step and partner with your church in reaching new heights with those things. So good stuff. Ian, anything to add as we close? [00:17:31] Speaker B: No. We hope this was helpful. Maybe church anniversaries were getting stale. For some churches out there, they were doing the same. And if you do do the same thing and your people love it and you love it, then great. But if you were looking for some fresh inspiration and ideas, we hope this has helped. [00:17:47] Speaker A: Yeah, that's good. Yeah. We love you guys in The Reach right family. Thank you guys for being a part of it. If this has meant something to you, it would mean a lot to us if you would hit that subscribe button rate review. If you're listening to us online, do those kinds of things. If you're listening to us on a podcast forum, if you're on YouTube, a subscription would mean a lot. Thanks guys, for being a part of the Retrieve family. And we'll see you next time. See ya.