Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: Creating Your Summer Game Plan

Podcast: City Light Church Las Vegas | Jabin Chavez
Episode: Creating Your Summer Game Plan | Jabin Chavez Leadership Podcast
Date: May 6, 2026
Host: Jabin Chavez

Episode Overview

In this special summer episode, Pastor Jabin Chavez shares practical insights on how church leaders and their teams can make the most of the summer season. With ministry rhythms shifting and many congregants traveling or attending less frequently, Jabin offers a “summer game plan” tailored specifically for senior pastors, but also valuable for church staff and leaders. The focus is on embracing rest, going deeper in spiritual growth, and strengthening staff connections—preparing the church to enter the fall refreshed and ready for new opportunities.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Rethinking Summer Rhythms

Jabin announces a change to the podcast schedule for the summer, moving to once-a-month episodes (00:53).
- Quote: “The summer is here, and I am changing my rhythm and my flow for the summer.” (00:53)
Notes the unique, transitional feeling of summer for churches, with shifting attendance patterns and the need for leaders to adjust accordingly.

2. Three-Point Summer Game Plan for Church Leaders

a. Get Some Rest (02:25–08:33)

Candidly shares his own fatigue after a busy first half of the year, crowded with church milestones and personal events.
- Quote: “First and foremost, I am...tired. January was huge. February for us is huge… March is interesting in our world as we’re kind of prepping for Easter… There’s just a lot going on.” (02:37)
Stresses the necessity for pastors and their teams to intentionally schedule down time.
- Suggests taking off key summer weekends: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and possibly Father’s Day (dependent on church culture) (06:05–07:15).
- Encourages multiple weeks of real rest—not just a Sunday here or there.
- Quote: “Every major pastor that I know...they’re all taking time off this summer...four, five, six weeks off...taking a break in the middle of the year.” (07:25)
Recommends senior leaders check staff vacation schedules to ensure everyone gets a substantial break.
Challenges the notion that leaders must always be present, paralleling Jesus’ example of retreating (Mark 1).

b. Go Deep, Not Wide (08:34–13:10)

Explains that summer is typically not a season of explosive church growth or attendance, but a unique time for deeper community and spiritual engagement.
- Quote: “This is not really a time that you’re gonna grow wide… What we find in the summer is that we are growing without kind of knowing it because you don’t see it in the numbers.” (08:36)
Shares City Light’s plan for a focused “small group sprint” in July—a four-week, all-church Bible study to build spiritual depth.
- Avoids open groups with various topics. Instead, the whole church unites in a single curriculum.
- Quote: “It’s an all call where we’re all gonna do a series together… It’s a time to go deep as a spiritual family.” (10:06)
Suggests family-style events (church picnics, barbecues) and supporting youth and kids’ camps.
Recommends using the season to teach “family business,” deeper topics that might not fit at other times.

c. Connect with Your Staff (13:11–17:40)

Encourages leaders to leverage the slower season for more relational time with staff—meals, coffees, casual get-togethers.
- Quote: “Can you take some people out to lunch? Can you take people out to breakfast? Can you get some people hanging? Can you do some coffees? This is a great time to try to connect with your staff.” (13:25)
Suggests delegating team activities if personal capacity is limited.
Notes the value of “relational equity” and “spiritual maturity” built during quieter months.
Announces plans for a mid-summer Revival Night (July 1st), embracing the uncertainty of attendance—emphasizing spiritual hunger over numbers (16:20).
- Quote: “I don’t know who’s going to be home and who’s going to be there, but we gonna have church.” (16:35)
Reminds senior pastors to also delegate pulpit time and altar call responsibilities, giving less-experienced team members valuable leadership reps.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

“There’s going to be graduations, vacations, weddings, family reunions, holidays…you need to be thinking about that in your own calendar.” (05:15)
“It is one thing to miss a Sunday. It is something special to miss two back-to-back. It starts feeling really good at three weeks and on and on; your brain can come down.” (07:45)
“Think about this summer: how you can go deep and not just wide.” (10:20)
“Take advantage of [the slower season] and try to build some relational equity, some spiritual maturity, and make sure, first and foremost, pastor, that you’re getting rest.” (17:10)
“All of these things are so powerful. And then when you go into the fall, you’re sharp, you’re rested, you’re focused, you’ve related and connected relationally, and now you are ready for a big fall harvest.” (17:50)

Important Timestamps

00:53 – Announcement of summer podcast schedule change
02:25 – Theme of fatigue and need for pastoral rest
06:05–07:15 – Practical advice on taking key weekends off
08:36 – Insight on “deep not wide” summer growth
10:06 – Description of the “small group sprint” all-church study
13:25 – Encouragement to connect with staff over meals/coffees
16:20–16:35 – Announcement of July 1 Revival Night and its spirit
17:50 – Encouragement for entering the fall season refreshed

Episode Tone and Style

Jabin’s tone is candid, practical, and encouraging—speaking as both a peer and coach for senior pastors. He affirms the realities of ministry fatigue, challenges leaders to prioritize wellness (their own and their team's), and provides pragmatic ideas to cultivate spiritual vitality and relational connections over the summer.

For Next Month

Jabin teases the next episode (dropping first Wednesday of June), which will feature special guest Pastor Steve Robinson from Church of the King (New Orleans, LA).

Summary prepared for those wanting practical strategies for making the most of the summer in ministry leadership, capturing both the spirit and the actionable advice of Jabin Chavez’s conversation.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:00]
A
Well, what's up, Pastor? The summer is here. Welcome to May. We are entering into a new season. We are entering into a couple of months where our church is going to look and feel a little different. And today I want to help you create a summer game plan that you love and where you enter into the fall all fired up and ready for what God has for you and your church. Let's jump in. Well, hey, welcome to the Jabe and Chavez Leadership Podcast, where we have been bringing you content every Wednesday. But the summer is here, and I am changing my rhythm and my flow for the summer. And I'm going to talk to you about that right now, here in a second. And we are going to once a month. So you're getting this on the first Wednesday of May. Another podcast will drop first Wednesday of June, first Wednesday of July, first Wednesday of August, because we are going to talk about kind of reshifting and rethinking for the summer. And this is one of the things that I am doing personally for myself so that I can get the most out of this summer, so that I am ready as we enter into the fall in just a few months. And, man, it's going to be here like that. So I want to talk today about a summer game plan specifically for senior pastors. But if you're on a team, this is going to be super helpful for you, too, because you need to be thinking through this as well. And I'm going to give you three things you need to be thinking about this summer. Here's the first one. Get some rest. You need to be thinking about getting some rest this summer. Let me. Let me say it like this. First and foremost, I am. I'm tired. I'm filming this here at the very, very end of April as we're entering into May. I'm. I'm tired. January was huge. February for us is huge as we are celebrating our anniversary and we're just still in a lot of beginning of the year momentum. March is interesting in our world as we're kind of prepping for Easter. And there's just. There's. There's just a lot going on in March. Some for some reason in. In our world, personally, it's my wife's birthday. Just some other things. Spring break with the fam. But it's not really a break. There's just. There's a lot going on. And then April is Easter. April is women's conference. I've been pushing and I've been pushing hard and I've been preaching a lot. So now that I'm entering into May, I'm. I'm pretty ready for a significant rest. And here's what I would tell you. As we enter into the summer, people are going to be taking time off and so should you. People, frankly, are going to be missing church and so should you. People go into a little bit of a different mindset around the summer. So should you. There's going to be graduations, there's going to be vacations, there's going to be weddings, there's going to be family reunions, there's going to be holidays, there's going to be all this stuff happening in the month of May in the summer. May, June, July and August. You need to be thinking about that in your own calendar. And by the way, August now is hot, but school's back on. You know, I kind of remember being a kid, you know, it was kind of like you got a good chunk of May and then you got June, July and all of August. School was back in September. Now we're back in school in August. So you really have this short window that's kind of May, June, July. Now it's kind of. It's kind of different and you. And August is a little bit different. We're going to talk about that in a second. So what I want to say is you need to get some rest. You need to be thinking about taking some time off. And what I would tell every pastor right off the bat, I'm just going to look at my calendar real quick. Okay, so we have Memorial Day weekend. You need to take that weekend off and you need to plan some rest around Memorial Day weekend. There is Father's Day, which what I would say is, if that's a big deal in kind of the life of your church like it is for us, preach it. But if it's not, and it's a really down Sunday, you ought to take the Sunday off. Fourth of July weekend, July four and five, take that weekend off. I'm just, I'm just hitting you with stuff that I'm just seeing now. Those are just non negotiables. You need to be thinking about taking those off, let alone some real time to get away. I'm talking about weeks and weeks and weeks where you should be taking off. This is a time to slow down. This is a time, frankly, to give your team some reps. This is a time to rejuvenate. It's a time like Mark Chapter one, where Jesus went alone to a quiet place or to a solitary place. This is a time to Rest. This is a time to give again. Like I just said, give, Give your team some reps in the pulpit. I've got team preaching in May. I've got team preaching in June. I've got team preaching in July. These are, these are just times that the team should be preaching. And I was actually just texting my wife about, I think we should even add a little bit more of the team into some weekends here throughout the summer because we, we ought to take advantage of this moment. So take some time. Every major pastor that I know, that if we said their name, you know them as well, they're all taking time off this summer. They're all taking June off, or they're all taking July off or they're all taking, you know, four, five, six weeks off. They're taking a break in the middle of the year. And I think there is something powerful. It's one thing to miss a Sunday. It is, it is something special to miss two back to back. It starts feeling really good at three weeks and on and on. Your brain can come down. See, like if I take this weekend off, I, my mind is still racing, I'm still thinking about what's next and what am I preaching next. You start, you take two weeks off. Now your brain can actually really kind of turn off for a second, three weeks. All the more. This summer is my wife and I's 20 year wedding anniversary. We're going to take a long, extended break. All I'm saying is get some rest this summer. And here's what I would say too, to your teams. You need to be checking your team's vacation calendar and making sure that your team is taking a break. Make sure everybody on your staff is taking a break this summer and making sure all that's getting submitted. So get some rest. Number two, go deep, not wide. This is not really a time that you're going to grow wide. It's not really a time with a ton of, you know, first time guests. This is not really a time of, of a ton of people, you know, of church growth in that sense. What, what we find in the summer is that we, we are growing without kind of knowing it because you don't see it in the numbers. But people are checking you out, people are checking you out, people are checking you out. A lot of people are gone. You're, you're kind of wondering what's going on. And then the fall hits and it's like, whoa, okay, we, we did grow. But this is a time where I'm not really looking at the Numbers. I'm not really thinking that way. I'm thinking through how can we grow deep. So, like, we're going to do a small group season right in the middle of the summer, but it's only going to be the month of July. We're calling it a small group sprint, four weeks, where we're doing a focused Bible teaching that everybody's going to be a part of. So it's going to be an all call this summer. So this is not going to be open group. Somebody's doing Romans. Somebody's discussing the weekend. Another person's doing a merit. That's not what the summer is. It's an all call where we're all going to do a series together. It's a time to go deep as a spiritual family. So we're doing groups, we're doing courses. I may teach on some things this summer that, you know, it, it. It just feels like kind of family business. Think about this summer, how you can go deep and not just wide. Maybe a church picnic, maybe a church barbecue. We've got summer camps, right? We got kids camps, we got youth camps. We got stuff like that happening. Ways for the, for the church to really connect and grow spiritually and deeper by the end of the summer. So we're taking a break, we're going deep. And then the last thing is this. I want to encourage you, senior pastor, to connect with your staff. Connect with your staff. It is kind of a slower time. Like even. Even this last week, we're in the last week of April. Women's conference just ended. Easter just ended. It was kind of just a slower week in the life of the church. Amazing. Going to be a little slower. We got Mother's Day. We're thinking through that. Got some stuff. But. But it's going to be a slower month. Think through. Can you get some. Can you take some people out to lunch? Can you take some people out to breakfast? Can you get some people hanging? Can you do some coffees? This is a great time to try to connect with your staff. If, if you do this kind of thing, bring them over to the house and do a barbecue. Try to think of some fun moments. If you can't senior pastor necessarily do it, give it to somebody on your team to say, hey, get. Get the team together and do a hang and, you know, something like that. I think it's just a great time to try to connect, try to rest, try to engage, do some lunches, do some breakfast. You know, I'm not. We're not a dinner family. We don't, we don't do a lot of social dinners, but if you do, you know, do some dinners, this is a great time to try to connect. Another thing, you know, that we're going to do. I'm just thinking about it now when I was talking about going deep. We're going to do like a revival night right in the middle of summer. July 1st, Wednesday night, July 1st. We're just going to do a big old fashioned Holy Ghost meeting right in the middle of the summer. I don't know who's going to be home and I don't know who's going to be there, but we gonna have church. I don't know if it's going to be packed. I don't know if it's going to be 500 people. I don't know. But we're gonna, we're gonna have church right in the middle of summer. It's just another thing to, we're gonna, we're, you know, we're gonna do more meals, we're gonna do more connect, all of these kind of things that in the summer things were kind of slow. Take advantage of that and try to build some relational equity, some spiritual maturity and make sure, first and foremost, Pastor, that you're getting rest. And I just want to reiterate one more time, make sure your teams are getting some rest again, just some other practical things like I talked about. Give your team some reps. This is a great time to let your team preach a little bit on the weekends. This is a great time to give them a few swings at bat. This is a great time to, you know, have your team do the salvation altar call. Just, just things to keep the summer kind of fun and fresh and new. All of these things are so powerful. And then when you go into the fall, you're sharp, you're rested, you're focused, you've. You've related and connected relationally. And now you are ready for a big fall harvest and you're ready for a great new wave of souls that's going to come into your church. I'm believing you're going to have an amazing summer. I believe supernaturally you're going to grow this summer. I believe you're going to have a fun summer. And I'm really believing for just special, special moments in the presence of God all summer long. I'll see you back at the. Oops, I hit my mic. First Wednesday of June. I'm actually going to be having a special guest, Pastor Steve Robinson from Church of the King there in New Orleans, Louisiana, one of my favorite men of God in the world. He's going to be on the podcast first week of June, and it's going to be fire, y'. All. It's gonna be fire. A few other things I want to remind you of. We've got Senior pastors roundtable happening November 2nd and 3rd, 2026. Send me a direct message on my Instagram and I'll send you the link so you can register. And then, hey, I just did a podcast with Pastor Preston Morrison, the leadership cut. He is an amazing man of God there in the Phoenix area, Scottsdale, Arizona. I just did a podcast with him. So go check that out on YouTube as well as a really great convo. And Preston's just unbelievable. Five star leader all around. I love you. I'm praying for you. Have an amazing summer. We'll see you in June.