A Quick and Personal Example from Home Church in Roswell
I recently attended Home Church in Roswell, where my friend Jeff Henderson was preaching. His message focused on how we can approach God in both fear and as a Father—and he did a fantastic job.
Toward the end of the sermon, Jeff acknowledged that for some, seeing God as a Father is challenging. He said something that stuck with me:
“God isn’t a reflection of your earthly father. God is the perfection of your earthly father.”
That moment resonated deeply, especially for those in the room who had strained relationships with their dads or had lost them altogether.
Then something unexpected happened. Gerold Fadayomi, the Lead Pastor, stepped up and asked three fathers in the congregation to come forward and offer hugs to anyone who needed a father’s embrace.
The response was stunning.
In a room of 300 adults, at least 30 people came forward for a hug. Maybe 40 or 50.
A few days later, at lunch with Gerold, I told him how much I appreciated that powerful and intentional moment.
He smiled and said, “It wasn’t planned.”
Jeff had finished his sermon with 10 minutes left in the service (on time, btw), and Gerold felt led by the Holy Spirit to create space for people to experience the Father’s love tangibly.
I left that conversation wrestling with a question every church leader should consider:
Can a Church Be Spirit-Led AND Strategically Planned?
What’s the best approach?
Some churches script every detail of their services down to the second. I worked at North Point as the lead pastor of Woodstock City Church for 13+ years. This is mostly how we operated.
Others pride themselves on “going with the flow” and resisting structure.
But what if both approaches miss the full picture of how God works?
The truth is that the Holy Spirit moves both in preparation and in the moment. God is not confined to spontaneity nor requires a lack of planning to work powerfully.
In fact, some of the most Spirit-led moments begin before Sunday ever arrives.
So, how do we strike the right balance?
5 Ways to Plan Your Services While Staying Open to the Holy Spirit
1. Invite the Holy Spirit Into Your Planning, Not Just Your Service
Spirit-led moments don’t start on Sunday—they start in your preparation. Too often, church leaders only pray for the Holy Spirit to move during the service, rather than through the planning process.
How to Do This:
✅ Start every planning meeting with prayer—not just a token prayer, but a moment of real surrender.
✅ Ask your team, “What do we sense God is already doing in our church right now?”
✅ Instead of only thinking about creativity, transitions, or production, ask, “What does the Spirit want to say this week?”
✅ Read and reflect on the Scripture passage together, asking for wisdom in shaping the service.
When your planning process is bathed in prayer, discernment, and listening, you’ll find that the Holy Spirit moves before Sunday ever arrives.
2. Plan With an Open Hand
Being Spirit-led doesn’t mean being unprepared. At the same time, being prepared doesn’t mean controlling every detail. The key is to plan with an open hand—creating a structure that’s flexible enough to adapt when God redirects.
How to Do This:
✅ Don’t overfill the service—leave space for unplanned moments.
✅ Use “tentative” elements that can flex, like extending worship if the moment calls for it.
✅ Trust your leaders—create a culture where worship leaders, pastors, and teams have permission to pivot.
Example: A church planned for a 5-minute response time after the sermon but sensed during rehearsal that God might be calling for extended prayer time. Rather than locking in the 5-minute plan, they created space for it to grow if needed.
3. Stay Attentive During the Service
Even with the best planning, the Holy Spirit moves in real-time. What’s planned on paper doesn’t always match what God is doing in the room. Spirit-led leaders stay attuned and responsive.
How to Do This:
✅ Be aware of the room—watch how people are responding.
✅ Give key leaders the freedom to adjust—whether extending a song, shifting the sermon emphasis, or inviting the prayer team forward.
✅ Debrief afterward—ask, “Did we allow enough room for God to move? What did we learn?”
Planning should never create resistance to the Spirit—it should create a foundation for the Spirit to work.
4. Recognize the Difference Between Emotionalism and the Spirit’s Leading
Some churches equate high emotions with the movement of the Spirit. Others avoid emotional engagement entirely. Both extremes can be unhelpful.
The goal isn’t to chase a feeling—it’s to discern when the Holy Spirit is truly at work.
How to Do This:
✅ Teach your team that emotions can accompany God’s presence, but they aren’t proof of it.
✅ Evaluate the fruit—Are people encountering Jesus, repenting, and growing?
✅ Stay grounded in Scripture—The Spirit will never contradict God’s Word.
5. Trust That the Spirit Moves in Both the Planned and the Unplanned
God works before Sunday. He works during the service. And He continues to work after people leave.
Sometimes, the most Spirit-led thing you can do is prepare well. Other times, it’s scrapping the plan in the moment.
The key isn’t choosing one or the other—it’s learning to embrace both.
Moving Forward in Spirit and in Strategy
Leaning too far into either extreme can miss the mission.
🔹 If you tend to be overly strategic and excellence-focused, plan some margin into your service for the Holy Spirit to move.
🔹 If you tend to be too unplanned, don’t hyper-spiritualize a lack of intentionality. God wants to lead you as you lead your church—both through strategy and His Spirit.
Which of these sides do you tend to fall on? What can you do this week to help your church find the balance?
Call to Action:
💡 How does your church balance Spirit-led moments with strategic planning? If you would like some coaching on Sunday experiences, let’s talk.
Quotes for Inspiration:
📖 “God is not a reflection of your earthly father. God is the perfection of your earthly father.” – Jeff Henderson
📖 “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” – Proverbs 16:9
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