Christ Church

Steps to Event Planning & Ministry Support

To ensure proper approval and quality support for all ministry and corporate events, please follow the guidelines below. These apply to any event (private or public) requiring support from:

  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Facilities
  • Worship & Creative Arts Ministry (CCC)
  • Finance

Step 1: Prerequisites For Scheduling an Event

The following steps must be completed before requesting any event dates on the calendar.

Ministry Leader/Supervisor Input

  • Meet with your ministry leader to review feasibility, alignment, and possible costs.
  • Include your anticipated event in the yearly budget request (typically due late September).

Supporting Ministries Input

Get cost estimates (if applicable) and feasibility of support from:

  • Media
  • Facilities
  • Worship & Creative Arts Ministry - CCC (if applicable)
  • Other impacted departments

COO Budget Approval

Required at least 60 days prior if:

  • It’s a paid event, or
  • Total expenditures exceed $2,000, or
  • It’s a new initiative not previously approved

Step 2: Calendaring Your Event

After all prerequisite approvals and supporting ministry conversations have taken place, you are now ready to request dates on the CC Calendar.

01

Avoid Conflicts

Do not seek to schedule events during:

  • In-person weekend/midweek services
  • Weeks with major events (e.g., Easter, Tri-County Fair, VBS, Prayerfest, Elevate, Christmas Concerts, Leadership/Town Hall Meetings)
  • Small Group Friday nights (2nd & 4th Fridays, Oct–June)

02

Ensure Proper Lead Time

  • Events must be scheduled at least 60 days in advance on the Christ Church and Master Combined Calendars
  • Contact the Receptionist (staff) or your Staff Resource Person (volunteers) for help

03

Proper Room & Resource Calendaring

  • Include all rooms needed in your calendar request
  • If your event requires pre-setup (e.g., a day or two prior), calendar that as well

04

Awareness Of After-hours Meeting Protocols

Weekdays (Mon–Fri after 5PM)

  • Provide 2 weeks’ notice
  • End meetings by 9:30PM
  • For groups of 10 or fewer, try to meet when the campus is already open

Saturdays

  • Schedule on days with other planned activities
  • End meetings by 4:00PM unless otherwise approved

Sundays

  • End meetings no later than 2.5 hours after the final service
    • Rockaway: by 3:30PM
    • Montclair: by 4:30PM
  • Special approval is required for later times
  • No meetings during services

05

Calendaring Your Room/Resource

All rooms required to service your event should also be included in your calendar request (60 days prior) for your event.

Please see the Christ Church Receptionist or your Staff Resource Person for instructions on how to properly request your rooms.

06

Room Setup

Should any of your rooms require any special setup or breakdown, prior or after your event, you should also calendar the “room setup” in order to avoid schedule conflicts with other events/meetings. For example, your event may require the room to be set up a few days in advance. The room setup should also be calendared and booked in this instance.

Protocol for Scheduling After-Hours’ Meetings & Security Staffing:

As you may be aware, whenever any of our campuses are open for an event, meeting/activity or otherwise, it is our policy to have at least one member of our security team on the premises. For Security Team scheduling purposes, we are outlining the possible scenarios for after-hours meetings. All of the below scenarios still require booking the meeting on the Christ Church and Master Combined Calendars and choosing your room as a resource. If you need help with proper calendaring, please see the Christ Church Receptionist.

After-Hours Meetings: Monday–Friday

  • Applies to meetings scheduled after 5:00 p.m.
  • Give at least 2 weeks’ notice
  • Plan to exit the building by 9:30 p.m.

For meetings with 10 or fewer people, please:

  • Schedule on evenings when the campus is already open
  • Reference the Christ Church calendar to determine open nights

After-Hours Meetings: Saturday

For meetings/events with fewer than 10 attendees

  • Try to schedule on a Saturday when another event is already planned
  • Aim to end your meeting by 4:00 p.m.

Exceptions may be made for:

  • All-hands events
  • Larger ministry gatherings

After-Hours Meetings: Sunday

  • Provide at least 2 weeks’ notice
  • All meetings must end no later than 2.5 hours after the last service
    • Rockaway & Montclair: Ready to exit building by 4:30 p.m.
  • Meetings cannot take place during worship services

To meet later than the time limits:

  • Request special approval from the Security Team
  • Approval is contingent on security staff availability

The above memo is not all encompassing and does not outline all possible scenarios for scheduling after-hours meetings. In the event that you have not properly scheduled your meeting/activity, you will now be at the mercy of the availability of the security team member who may not be able to facilitate your meeting and who may ask that you reschedule for another date and time.

After having budgeted for all marketing, media promotion and support, and scheduling your event following the above guidelines, you are now ready to begin requesting support from departments. The following guidelines should be followed when requesting any marketing and media promotion support.

Event Marketing & Media Promotion Lead Times

When requesting marketing, advertising, or media production support, please be mindful of the required lead times. Note that not all events or ministry activities will receive the same level of promotional support.

Promo Videos

45 DAYS

For events expecting at least 300 attendees

Brochures

45 DAYS

For events expecting at least 300 attendees

Landing Pages

45 DAYS

For events expecting at least 150 attendees

Fliers/Promotional Images

45 DAYS

After receipt of all necessary graphics, logos, and event details

Social Media Posts

45 DAYS

After receipt of all necessary graphics, logos, and event details

Announcements & Handouts

45 DAYS

All submissions must be received by the 1st of the month prior to the requested promotion*

*For example: To promote an event in February, submissions are due by January 1st.

Kindly note some examples below:

After your request has been reviewed by the Marketing Team, you will receive an email letting you know if your request has been approved, and the selected dates for your tables.

Please note that you are responsible for the presentation of your table. That means dressing the table with a tablecloth, setting up decorations (ex. balloons) and the printing of any accompanying signage (ex. 8.5×11 table sign with QR code) or handouts (ex. half-sheet fliers).

Seasonal Events at Christ Church

Occasionally we will market major, corporate seasonal events together for Summer at CC and Holidays at CC. Please see below for helpful guidelines regarding seasonal events.

Summer Events

To be considered for the Summer at CC promotion, you must submit your events before April 1.

Holiday Events

To be considered for the Holidays at CC promotion (such as Thanksgiving and Christmas), you must submit your events before September 1.

Ministry Support Forms & Guidelines

After meeting and or soliciting input from the major event supporting ministries (Facilities, Media, and CCC), kindly follow the following guidelines when requesting day of event support:

Facilities Setup Requests

  • Room Setup Floor Plan: Due 30+ days in advance
  • Facilities Load-In Document (see below for template for multi-room/multi-day setup): Due with floor plans

Media Event Support

  • Media Support Request: Email 30+ days in advance must be included in your event budget
    • Draft due 30+ days before event
    • Final due 72 hours before event
    • Include room info, mics, slide/video cues, and agenda

Worship & Creative Arts Support (CCC)

  • Musicians/Singers: Request 30+ days in advance, must be included in your event budget

Kindly note, the above does not outline any procedures for event planning such as: Organizational Charts, Agendas, Execution Plans, Volunteer Recruitment, etc. It however touches on the prerequisites to event planning, scheduling procedures, and ministry support requests. For info and templates on event planning docs, please see the Director of Special Projects and they would be happy to share some with you.

Lastly, it is understood that there are some exceptions when coordinating certain requests; however, those exceptions are not the rule. Kindly allow the above to guide you when requesting support to any ministry event going forward. In doing so, you will receive a greater level of support that will help you execute your event with excellence.