In the last post in our series on event planning, I talked about when and where you might host your event.

Today I want to talk about purposefully planning your event schedule.

How to Plan the Schedule for Your Women’s Ministry Event

Our purpose should drive our event schedule.

As I mentioned in the first post of the series (Seven Benefits of Hosting Big Events in Your Women’s Ministry), every event we host should support our ministry mission statement and our church’s mission statement. If you need help creating a ministry mission statement, be sure to check out this post.

In my book, Women’s Ministry Essentials (affiliate link), I talk about 5 pillars of women’s ministry – prayer, care, theology, evangelism, and discipleship. All five should be incorporated into the big events you offer.

5 Pillars for Your Event

Let’s imagine a woman in your church is going to share a twenty-minute teaching on abiding in Christ based on John 15. Here’s one way you could incorporate those 5 pillars into your event.

Prayer: Open and closing prayer. You may also want to add a time for women to share prayer requests at their table.

Care: In addition to the hospitality shown by the team, your women have been asked to bring donations of canned goods for a local food pantry.

Theology: Your speaker teaches from John 15. Your worship team selects songs that reinforce the teaching.

Evangelism: Your speaker or another team member explains that to abide in Christ, you must have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior and they explain the gospel.

Discipleship: Women are given two or three discussion questions based on the teaching. At least one is an application question challenging them to put what they’ve learned into action.

Did you hear how every item on the event schedule has a specific purpose?

Great Event Schedules

Planning a purposeful event schedule takes time.

We want to create a smooth flow of events and activities from the moment our women walk through the door.

When we create a schedule that flows smoothly, everyone benefits. Our attendees don’t feel rushed (or bored) and our speakers have enough time to teach from God’s Word.

A great event schedule:

• Provides space for women to respond to what they’ve heard.
• Adds energy where needed.
• Invites women to reflect at appropriate times.
• Most importantly, makes Jesus and God’s Word the focus.

How to Build Your Event Schedule

When we build the schedule for our events, we start with the pieces we need to include and then assign the length to each one.

These are options and suggestions, not requirements. Think of it as a menu, select the best elements for your event and for your women.

8  Elements You Might Include in Your Event Schedule:

1.Speaker’s Message (30 minutes)

Your speaker’s message should be the meat, or main course, of your event.

You may be tempted to give your speaker more time to get your monies worth. We’ll talk in the next episode about speaking fees. For now, keep this in mind. You are not only paying for the time they are on the stage; you are paying for their preparation and their travel time.

• One-day events might include one to two 30-minute speaker sessions.
• A two-night retreat or conference could include 3 (or at most 4) 30-minute sessions.

Please don’t have women eat while your speaker is speaking. The focus should be on the message God has given her to share from His Word.

2. Prayer (5 minutes total)

If you’re including an opening and closing prayer, you may only need about 5 minutes total.

If you set up prayer stations, it will depend on the number of stations and number of women you have at your event. Plan on 30-45 minutes.

Be sure to check out the Building Prayer into Every Step of Your Women’s Ministry Event for more ideas on incorporating prayer in your event.

3. Worship (15-minute sessions)

I have found worship sessions of 15 minutes work really well. Most worship leaders can cover 2-3 songs. More than 3 songs at one time can be too much and may negatively affect your group’s ability to focus on your speaker’s message.

At our retreats, we usually sing two songs, have a 30-minute teaching, and then follow with one more song before breaking into discussion groups.

4. Discussion Groups aka Table Groups (20-25 minutes)

Don’t forget to include introductions during your first (or only) discussion group meeting.

So far we’ve covered: your speaker’s message, prayer, worship, and discussion groups. That may be all your event schedule includes, or you may wish to add one or more of these next items to your schedule.

5. Food (30 minutes to 1 ½ hour) 

Scheduling time to eat depends on:

• The number of women at your event.
• What you are serving – coffee, dessert, a full meal
• How the food is being served.
• If you are serving food on-site or offs-site.

If you’re serving food onsite and using multiple buffet stations or pre-ordered box lunches, you should be able to hold lunch to one hour. Add a little extra travel time before and after if you are not staying in the same room.

You want your women to have time to eat and build relationships. Mealtimes can be ministry times!

6. Intentional icebreaker games (15-30 minutes)

Most icebreaker games will take about 15-20 minutes, including instructions. Some need 30 minutes. Check out my list of icebreaker games here.

7. Testimonies (5 min), Gospel Presentations (5 min), and Panels (20-30 min)

I want to warn you, testimonies and panels are often a challenge to keep within the allotted time. Most women underestimate how long it will take to share their story. Panelists often struggle to keep their answers brief. Those times may sound too short to you, but they are short on purpose so women have to be specific and succinct about what they share. We’ll cover this in more detail in a future episode.

8. Workshops, Service Projects, and Crafts (45 – 60 minutes)

I suggest workshops last between 45 and 60 minutes. One or two workshops (also known as breakout sessions) during a longer event works best. We usually offer each workshop twice instead of creating a second new set of workshop options for the second session.

Remember, not every event will incorporate all eight of these elements. Which pieces and parts you need will depend upon your purpose.

4 More Things To Add to Your Schedule

In addition to the elements above, don’t forget to include these 5 things on your schedule:

• A brief welcome (with schedule instructions and any housekeeping information)
• Speaker introductions
• Bathroom breaks (we give our women 10-15 minutes)
• Snack or coffee breaks

How much total time should you schedule for your event?

Typically speaking:

• A breakfast, lunch, or dinner event might last about 2-2/12 hours.

• A half-day conference might last anywhere from 2 ½ to 4 hours.
• A full-day conference could last 6 hours.
• Retreats and conferences are usually either 2 days and 1 night or 3 days and 2 nights.

Here’s a sample schedule for a 2 ½ hour event with a breakfast and one speaker session:

9:00 – 9:40 AM              Coffee and light breakfast

9:40 – 9:45 AM              Welcome, prayer, and housekeeping

9:45 – 9:55 AM              Worship – 2 songs

9:55 – 10:00 AM           Speaker introduction (shouldn’t need 5 minutes, but that builds in a little grace and time to transition)

10:00 – 10:30 AM         Speaker Session

10:30 – 10:40  AM        Bathroom break and move to discussion groups

10:40 – 11:05 AM         Discussion Groups (in same room)

11:05 – 11:15  AM        Testimony and share the gospel

11:15 – 11:20  AM        Worship song (1 song)

11:20 – 11:30 AM        Wrap-up, thank you’s, invitation to the next women’s event, and closing prayer

Schedules should be created carefully and prayerfully.

Ask God to guide your plans. As your event draws closer, review your schedule and make any needed tweaks. Trust that the Holy Spirit was at work during the planning process and do your best to stick with the schedule the team prayed over and created.

You may need to trim or expand things on the fly if things don’t go as planned. I’ll share some emcee tips in a future post to help keep things running smoothly.

After your event, don’t forget to make a note of what worked well and what you want to tweak on your schedule the next time.

Here are Today’s Toolbox Tasks:

1. Make a list of the elements needed for your next event.
2. Put together a rough draft of your event schedule.

May the Lord guide you and your team as you plan your schedule.

You may also want to read (includes affiliate links):
Crafting a Solid Women’s Ministry Mission Statement
Icebreakers & Games Masterlist
Series: Planning Purposeful Events for Your Ministry
Rethinking Fellowship: How to Host Meaningful Women’s Ministry Events
Everything You Need to Know About Planning a Retreat
Women’s Ministry Essentials: How to Build and Sustain a Thriving Christian Community
How to Pick the Perfect Time and Place for Your Women’s Ministry Event
Pricing Your Women’s Ministry Event: A Step-by-Step Solution
How to Plan, Track, and Tweak Your Women’s Ministry Event Budget
The Ultimate Women’s Ministry Event Timeline: When to Book, Plan, and Prepare
Building an Effective Event Planning Team
Building Prayer into Every Step of Your Women’s Ministry Event
Seven Benefits of Hosting Big Events in Your Women’s Ministry