How Healthy Churches Create Momentum After January’s Attendance Spike

There’s nothing quite like the end-of-year experience in church. As a leader, the combination of bustle and impact is palpable. You spend months leading up to late November strategizing, planning, and putting everything in place. When you get to January 1st, you and your team can breathe a sigh of relief. 

Often, churches see a spike in attendance in January as people chase that reinvigorated spirit from the spiritual side of the holiday experience. But …what comes next? What are you planning as a church to meet curious newcomers where they are in their spiritual journey heading into 2026? 

As the post-holiday attendance spike wears off. Here are some strategies healthy churches can use to maintain momentum during the transition from the hyped end-of-year excitement into the long winter months ahead.

Start With Prayer

This has to be the beginning, the ending, and the central aspect of any church momentum initiative. If you want people to continue to come to your church, start and end with prayer. Center yourself and your team on God’s will for the new people in your church. Ask for wisdom as you take your next steps. Pray for smooth integrations with your existing members and attendees. 

Before you start making practical decisions and investments, make sure you’re lifting every aspect of your strategy up to the Lord in prayer.

Invest in a Relational Pipeline

As you plan for 2026, use January as a month to explore church connections with your new attendees. Don’t take anyone’s presence for granted. Instead, make a clear, conscious effort to connect and begin developing relationships with new people. 

Build a welcome flow that acknowledges new people in the room as you start each service. Offer follow-up channels where people can connect and ask questions — both in person and online. Wherever you can, set up relational touchpoints that help your team connect with visitors so you can answer questions and begin building relationships that can last.

Keep in mind, attendance frequency has dropped. That means connection needs to come quickly — in January, not a few months later. Start building those touchpoints in person and online to encourage engagement and retention from curious visitors.

Create a Multi-Month “Momentum” Plan

It’s hard to focus on long-term initiatives coming out of the busiest time of the year. If you want your short-term church growth to become an opportunity for long-term growth, though, you need to put a plan in place that stretches beyond the first Sunday in January.

Plan out a roadmap for the first quarter of 2026. Go through a sermon series that speaks to felt needs in your community, needs that newcomers can relate to. Set up easy on-ramps for new people to plug in, too. Launch new small groups. Create low-friction volunteer opportunities. Make people aware of ongoing activities, like youth group and mid-week bible studies. 

Your church already has a vibrant, committed community. Be proactive in helping new visitors find their place in your church family. 

Protect Church Health as You Grow

Churches shouldn’t grow for growth’s sake. That’s a vanity metric that won’t survive the long term. As you watch people try out visiting in January, make sure you’re considering more than church attendance numbers. Look for signs of real engagement, like volunteerism and consistent attendance. 

Also, if you’re already a healthy church in November, don’t sell out on the sustainable practices that have gotten your church to this point when February rolls around. Consider things like overstretched staff and volunteer burnout. Build margin into your strategy and maintain volunteer care rhythms. Invest in leadership practices that keep your team spiritually and emotionally grounded before, during, and after the holiday attendance rush.

Creating Sustainable Post-Holiday Momentum as a Church

The holidays are a natural time to see a spike in attendance. New Year's resolutions and reassessments often lead to an additional boost in attendance heading into January. 

It’s wise to plan for how your team will handle the surge ahead of time. Put strategies in place to engage with newcomers for multiple months heading into the new year. Also invest in maintaining and protecting the existing structures and teams you already have. 

If you can maintain your health as a church during times of unpredictability and rapid growth, you can meet the spiritual needs of your attendees, new and old, and keep your ministry focused on mission. 

If you want experienced support assessing your needs heading into 2026, our team at Ministry Solutions can help. Reach out for a Free Analysis. Together, we’ll review your financial and project strategies heading into the New Year and make sure you have clarity as you lay out your plans for the year ahead.