What Air Jordan Releases Teach Church Leaders About Planning and Momentum
I saw a graphic titled: “February Air Jordan Releases.”
It wasn’t a sermon. It wasn’t a strategy deck. It wasn’t a church calendar.
It was a sneaker drop schedule, courtesy of @nicekicks.
But the moment I looked at it, I thought: This is what most churches are missing.
Not vision. Not passion. Not preaching. Not even people.
They’re missing planning that builds momentum without breaking the team.
Because those Jordans didn’t end up on the calendar by accident. They didn’t say, “Hey y’all, we feel like dropping 12 shoes this month. Let’s see what happens.” No.
Every single release date is proof that someone:
Built a timeline
Lined up production
Staged marketing
Planned demand
Structured distribution
Protected the brand’s reputation
In other words: A billion-dollar brand refuses to move without a plan.
And too many churches keep trying to “launch” ministry with nothing but desire and duct tape.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth
Most church leaders don’t have a vision problem. They have a calendar problem.
The church isn’t failing because leaders don’t care.
The church is struggling because leaders are carrying too much in their head.
They’re doing what so many church leaders do:
Thinking through everything alone
Processing everything under pressure
Planning in fragments
Communicating at the last minute
Rebuilding every month from scratch
That’s not sustainable. Not for the pastor. Not for the staff.
Not for the volunteers. Not for the members.
Planning is not a corporate practice
Some leaders resist planning because they think it competes with faith.
As if planning makes you less spiritual. As if structure cancels the Holy Spirit. But planning doesn’t replace prayer.
Planning proves you prayed.
It says: “God, I’m not just asking You to bless what I’m doing. I’m preparing to steward what You’ve assigned.”
This is why I tell leaders all the time: Faith without planning is just optimism.
And optimism isn’t leadership. Optimism is emotion.
The sneaker calendar teaches us 3 leadership lessons
And these lessons apply directly to church planning.
1) Planning is a calendar, not a concept
Look at the image again. Every release has a date. Not an idea. Not a maybe. Not a hope. A date.
That’s why planning is so powerful.
Because a calendar forces leaders to decide:
What matters
What can wait
What needs to stop
What needs preparation
Who needs to be involved
Most ministry stress comes from this one problem:
Churches are trying to build momentum without building a timeline.
So people experience the church as reactive:
last minute announcements
unclear instructions
missing volunteers
inconsistent excellence
communication breakdowns
Not because leaders are lazy, but because leaders are overloaded.
2) Planning is sequencing, not just scheduling
One of the most powerful things about the Jordan calendar is this:
They don’t drop everything at once. They stagger it.
That is a masterclass in pacing. They understand something every church must learn:
If you try to do everything at once, you won’t do anything well.
I’ve watched churches try to launch:
a new worship flow
a new volunteer system
a capital campaign
a youth relaunch
a marketing push
and a discipleship restructure
All in the same season. That is not vision. That’s overload.
Here’s what overload does:
It burns out your best leaders
It frustrates your volunteers
It makes staff resentful
It creates inconsistent results
It slowly drains trust from the culture
Sequencing gives your church room to breathe.
It creates rhythms. It protects people.
3) Planning protects trust
People don’t get upset because shoes sell out. They get upset because the process feels unfair.
They lose trust in the system. And when trust drops, loyalty drops.
Same in church leadership. Volunteers don’t quit because they hate serving.
They quit because they keep getting:
last-minute texts
unclear instructions
unclear roles
unclear start times
unclear expectations
Then leadership wonders: “Why don’t people serve anymore?”
Because the system is unstable. And instability makes people anxious.
Planning isn’t just operational. It’s emotional.
Good planning communicates: “We value you enough to prepare.”
Bad planning communicates: “You’re expected to absorb our chaos.”
Most churches don’t have a planning system
They have a planning personality. Meaning, everything depends on a person. The pastor. The admin. The executive pastor. The operations pastor.
And when that person gets tired, distracted, sick, or overwhelmed, the whole ministry stalls or falls.
That’s what happens when a church relies on talent instead of systems.
This is why you can’t just “try harder.”
You have to lead smarter.
A simple tool: The Ministry Drop Calendar
If you want to build momentum without burnout, you need what I call a Ministry Drop Calendar.
It’s a simple planning system that gives every ministry initiative structure.
Here’s the framework: D.R.O.P.
D = Decide
What are the 1–3 most important outcomes this month?
Not events. Outcomes.
R = Resource
Who owns it? Who supports it? What budget is attached? What time is required?
If you don’t resource it, don’t announce it.
O = Organize
What sequence needs to happen first, second, third?
What deadlines exist? What prep is required? What systems must be in place?
P = Promote
How are we communicating it? To who? When? Where?
Promotion without organization creates disappointment.
Organization without promotion creates confusion.
You need both.
Your church doesn’t need more activity
It needs more alignment.
Most churches are not struggling because they aren’t doing enough.
They’re struggling because they’re doing too much without clarity.
Here’s the key: Momentum doesn’t come from doing more. Momentum comes from doing what matters consistently.
That’s why the sneaker drop calendar works. It isn’t just activity, it’s execution.
What happens when churches don’t plan well?
Here’s what I see over and over again:
Everything is last-minute
Communication always feels rushed
Volunteers feel like tools, not partners
Staff carry hidden stress
Ministry excellence becomes inconsistent
Leaders stop dreaming because they’re exhausted
Members stop engaging because they don’t know what’s happening
People stop inviting because events feel unreliable
And the saddest part?
Leaders start thinking the problem is “people.”
But the problem is often process.
What happens when churches plan well?
When churches build a planning system, here’s what changes:
Volunteers feel respected
Leaders feel supported
Staff stop firefighting
Teams develop rhythm
Excellence becomes repeatable
Momentum becomes predictable
Ministry becomes joyful again
Planning doesn’t remove pressure. It relocates pressure.
Instead of pressure landing on Sunday morning, pressure gets handled on Tuesday afternoon. That’s wisdom.
Closing
Let me say this to every pastor and leader reading: You’re not failing. You’re fatigued.
And you’re fatigued because the demand is high, but the system is low.
I’ve lived in that tension. I’ve carried that weight.
So hear me clearly, please: You don’t need more hustle.
You need a better plan. A plan doesn’t make you less spiritual. It makes you more responsible.
And responsibility is one of the most pastoral things you can give your people.
Because planning is love. Clarity is love. Preparation is love.
Coaching
If your church is growing, but your systems are not, eventually success will start to feel like suffocation. That’s what I help leaders solve. If you want support building a Ministry Drop Calendar, aligning staff rhythms, and creating planning systems that protect your people and sustain your momentum, I’d love to help you through ChurchLeaderOS coaching.
See you next Saturday!
Eric V Hampton
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