What if the key to lasting momentum in your church isn’t more pressure, but more joy? Brad Aycock shares five practical ways leaders can make joy and celebration a consistent part of their leadership strategy, showing how celebration shapes culture and strengthens mission.
We just celebrated Easter. Churches were full. Energy was high. People showed up. Why? Because when something is celebrated, it draws people in. What we celebrate shapes what we experience. There is a leadership principle I have come back to again and again in business, in the local church, and in denominational leadership: what gets celebrated gets replicated. I would add another: what gets measured gets multiplied.
Leaders reinforce what matters by what they measure, what they name, and what they celebrate. That is why “The joy of the Lord is our strength” (Nehemiah 8:10) is more than just a comforting verse. It’s a leadership principle. If we do not pause along the journey to celebrate what God is doing, we may not have the strength to get through what is ahead. Celebration brings joy. Joy is our strength. That is not soft leadership, it’s strategic leadership.
When people experience joy, they often don’t need to be pushed. They begin to move on their own. When something is celebrated, it gains momentum. When leaders create environments of joy, participation increases naturally. We do not have to motivate what we celebrate.
Celebrating risk and reward
In 2022, the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church staff collaborated to develop Go Grants, a new initiative to award churches for dreaming and taking a risk to connect with those outside the church. Grant requests jumped from 25 to as many as 220 in a year. What we discovered was that our churches were filled with possibilities. The dreams were there; they just needed permission, support, and reinforcement.
That same year, West Ohio launched the Bishop’s Go Awards to honor churches who were awarded a Go Grant for their new ministry. The first year was hosted by Trinity UMC in Columbus, Ohio, and United Methodists gathered to walk the red carpet and be celebrated. I remember standing in that room filled with joy and hope that first year thinking, “We needed this more than we realized.”
In West Ohio today, five conference teams now help award close to $1,000,000 each year in Go Grants across five categories. Since 2022, more than 300 Go Grants have been awarded to support new ministries. These new ministries are celebrated each year at the Bishop’s Go Awards. When leadership, communication, and resources align with the mission, synergy and momentum follow. We tell our churches, “If God gives you a dream, your Conference wants to support you.” We want our default answer to be “YES!”
Celebrating courage over comfort
Every church is already celebrating something. The real question is: what we are reinforcing? Too often, we unintentionally celebrate stability over mission, maintenance over movement, and comfort over courage. Then we wonder why nothing changes. Celebration is not fluff. It is formation. It tells people who we are and what matters.
Compelling vision is very important in any organization. But culture often changes with reinforcement from the top down until it is embodied from the bottom up. Isaiah 43:19 says, “See, I am doing a new thing.” Part of leadership is helping people see the new thing God is doing before everyone else can fully recognize it. Celebration helps people see it.
Utilizing joy as strategy
Here are five ways leaders can turn joy and celebration into a strategic force in their church, conference, or organization.
1. Celebrate what you want more of.
Every celebration is a vote.
If we only celebrate attendance, budgets, or longevity, we send the message that those are our ultimate wins. If we want new disciples, new leaders, and new faith communities, we must celebrate those things consistently.
Celebrate the person who invited a neighbor. Celebrate the lay leader who took a risk. Celebrate the fresh expression meeting in a restaurant. Do not wait until something is big enough. Whether your church runs 20 or 2,000, celebration teaches people what matters. The first invitation matters. The first gathering matters. The first yes matters.
2. Make celebration visible and public.
Private appreciation is good. Public celebration shapes culture.
At the Bishop’s Go Awards, we put stories on a stage. We name leaders, honor risk, and tell people, “We see you and we are proud of you.” If you want to shift culture, do not whisper your values. Amplify them. Build moments where stories of impact are shared regularly. What people see honored, they begin to pursue.
3. Tell better stories.
Data informs. Stories transform.
Most churches have more stories of life change than they realize, but those stories are often buried, assumed, or never told. When leaders tell stories of new life, bold risk, and changed communities, they help shape who their people believe they are.
Stories say: We are the kind of church that reaches people. We are the kind of church that takes risks. We are the kind of church that starts new things. We are the kind of conference that says yes when God births a dream. Testimony is not optional; it’s a part of leadership.
4. Celebrate courage, not just outcomes.
Acknowledge both successes and attempts.
One of the fastest ways to kill innovation in a church, conference, or denomination is to only celebrate what works. If the only stories that leaders platform are polished, successful, and fully formed, people quickly learn not to try anything unless success is guaranteed. But that is not how movements are built. Celebrate the attempt. Celebrate the step. Celebrate the obedience.
Think about Peter stepping out of the boat in Matthew 14. We remember that moment not because it was tidy, but because it was courageous. Courage is not just a private virtue. It should be a publicly celebrated value in the life of the church.
5. Build rhythms of joy into your leadership culture
Joy cannot be an annual event. It must become a rhythm.
In Genesis 1, God created, paused, named it good, and kept going. There was movement, but there was also pause. There was progress, but there was also delight. A big annual celebration can catapult a movement, but it cannot carry the culture alone. Healthy movements build regular practices of joy. Start meetings with wins, share impact stories, recognize leaders frequently, and mark milestones. Celebrate what God is doing through your communication channels. Joy isn’t a side issue in Christian leadership, it’s a sustaining force.
Amplify what matters.
Many churches and conferences do not suffer from a lack of ideas, but from a lack of reinforcement. We say we want multiplication, innovation, and mission, but too often we reinforce caution, comfort, maintenance, and predictability. Culture is shaped by what we consistently reinforce; avoiding the uncomfortable will eventually drift into complacency. One of the most powerful tools leaders have for shaping that culture is joy. Joy is not extra. It is essential infrastructure for leadership.
Notice it. Name it. Celebrate it. Repeat it.
Related Resources
- Go Grants from the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church
- 50 Ways to Multiply Your Church’s Leadership Capacity, a free resource from the Lewis Center
- 4 Ways to Make Easter Hospitality the Pattern for the Year by Doug Powe
- 7 Practical Strategies for Nurturing a Culture of Generosity by Lovett H. Weems Jr. and Ann A. Michel
- Fresh Starts & New Beginnings from the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church
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