There are three key times in the year for launching a church plant or a new campus - the end of summer, January or Easter and without a doubt September would be my pick every time here on Long Island.
I've never been a great fan of starting on Easter Sunday, because it doesn't make too good an impression the following week when the attendance is halved. Add to that the fact that it only gives you a couple of months max before you hit summer and everyone heads off for the beach, graduations, family gatherings, vacations or whatever.
January would be an insane month to try anything here. You could start one week, then have a snowstorm the next and be forced to cancel church altogether. Not the best way to kick things off.
So September comes out best, with a run of almost three months before Thanksgiving and Christmas hit. It's also the time when life is getting back to normal here as the kids return to school.
That's why we've opted to open our next campus the Sunday after Labor Day, but it does have its drawbacks too, like the fact that the final preparations are done during the summer with key people coming and going.
I'm off to India myself on Sunday - we're getting all our banners printed over there and its cheaper to go get them (by a long way) than get them all done here.
But once I get back, it will be ready, steady, run.
I guess there's no perfect time to start, but September comes out as first choice.
