A record-setting 106 million people watched last year's Super Bowl. Many believe that this record will be smashed this year. The Super Bowl has become a focal point for fans and advertisers of all types.
One pastor said, "Easter is our church's Super Bowl." This attitude is probably one reason why they have grown significantly each year since their church's existence.
In light of the fact that Easter falls later on the calendar this year, April 24th, you have an opportunity to have one of your largest Easter attendances in the history of your church. In my last post we looked at the first five Keys to Having an Explosive Easter. Here are the rest of principles that you can apply in planning your explosive Easter this year.
6. Start recruiting help for Easter early.
Here is the principle, "The more people get involved the more likely they are to invite people to attend." Recruiting, deploying, and encouraging volunteers at all levels is vital to the success of your Easter Outreach.
Generate a list of Entry Level Service Opportunities
- Set Up
- Take Down
- Nursery
- Greeter
- Usher
- Hostess
- Sound Tech
- Musician
- Food Preparation
- Choir
- Children’s Ministries
- Video Production
- Audio Ministry
- Small Group Host
- Office Assistance
- Event Production
- Marketing Team
- Website Production
7. Write a personal letter to every member of the church about the Easter Service(s).
Leaders lead and sending a letter to your congregation shows initiative and leadership. Make a heart felt appeal to your people to make this the best Easter ever in the life of your church. The letter should contain the following:
- An enthusiastic vision: Why I am excited about this Easter Service?
- Encouragement & ideas for inviting friends: What invitational tools can I encourage them to use?
- Invite them to get involved: What serving opportunities do I need to specifically promote?
- Get the specific details: What logistical details do I need to share with them?
- Remind them of the reality of the resurrection in their lives: How can I encourage them to experience the victorious life promised in the resurrection?
8. Reach out to the fringe people of your church.
Send a special invitation or a personal note to all your visitors from the last two the years. There is nothing like a personal touch when it comes to outreach. In may cases the most receptive people you can reach have already attended your services at some point.
9. Cast seeds of awareness to the community at large.
This principle is that you will always have to cast more seed than you think to get a significant impact. I encourage churches to spend 5-10% of their budget on marketing outreach. If you are facing a certain growth barrier you will need to kick that up to 10-15%.
Here are a couple of posts on the various ways to sowing seeds of awareness through relationships and throughout the community.
- Sowing Seeds Through Your Webs of Relationships
- Sowing Seeds of Love in Your Community
- Sowing Seeds Through Servant Evangelism #1, #2, #3
- Sowing Seeds Through Marketing #1, #2, #3
10. Preach a message on personal evangelism the Sunday before Easter.
Laying a biblical foundation and creating a heightened awareness for personal evangelism with the immediate application of inviting someone to Easter will really pay off in the long run. In recent years evangelism training in local churches has really been neglected. In making this part of your strategy you create a new discipline so that great commission living becomes infused into the life of your church.
11. Deliver the best Easter Service(s) to date.
You will need to communicate throughout the staff and volunteers that we want to put your best foot forward in this Easter Service. By creating a sense of urgency and taking steps to raise the quality of your service will have a lasting impact on your church.
It is important that you raise the quality of the service, not dramatically change your service or try to create an over-the-top experience. Turning your service into a Easter Extravaganza can back fire on you. 1) It does not represent who you are on a normal Sunday. 2) It can create a let down in your first time attender who returns the next week. 3) In bringing outside speakers or worship leaders you don't improve. Nelson Seacy writes, "Make your Easter service excellent, but keep it normal. If you are the one who usually preaches, preach on Easter. Have your regular worship leader lead worship on Easter. The goal with your Easter service planning should be this: To provide a great, quality service that reflects what attenders will see the rest of the year. When you get too fancy in your efforts to capitalize on Easter, you step out of the realm of reality and that can only lead to disillusionment."
Here are some other resources to help you have an Explosive Easter.
This Easter Outreach Idea Works by Chuck Warnock
Maximizing Easter Report by Nelson Seacry
18 Easter Factors by C Michael Johnson
Marketing Your Church for Easter by John E. Squiric
