If you’ve been in ministry for very long, you know that Easter Sunday is the BIG TIME. So much preparation goes into this one weekend because we know that we’ll have the biggest crowds and, for many, it’s our one chance to capture their attention. The week leading up to Easter can require so much extra time and energy that often we’re exhausted when it’s over. Often, it can feel like a lot of work for little reward. Here are some tips to help make Easter a success.
- Get them there! This may seem obvious, but many of us just assume people will show up and so we don’t put forth any effort to invite them. Send an email to everyone who’s attended your ministry in the past few months. Post a graphic and service times on your social media pages. Maybe even spend some money and create a physical invite that your families can share with their friends. You can make this as simple or complex as you have time and resources for, but whatever you do, be sure you’re inviting people to attend!
- Prepare for them. If you’ve invited them to attend, now you need to expect them to show up! Maybe you need extra volunteers greeting at the doors. You’ll need to make more coffee than usual (and be sure you have extra cups on hand!). And always make sure you’ve scheduled extra volunteers in your kids ministry areas. Look around your church and ministry area as if you’re seeing it for the first time, because many people will. We all have a stock pile of things we’ve been meaning to put away – now’s the time to do that! A little care and cleaning will help you make a great first impression.
- Make it different – but the same. Easter isn’t just a regular Sunday. It’s a celebration! We need to have some things that stand out and are different from any other Sunday. But the goal is to entice people to come back next week, so we don’t want to be so different that they’re confused when they do show up. Give them a taste of who you are from week to week, with a little bit of the extra holiday thrown in to make it special.
- Give them a clear next step. We didn’t go to all this work for it to be a one and done situation! Invite them to come back next week. Encourage them to register for the event you’ll be having a few weeks from now. Get them signed up for your monthly newsletter. Whatever that next step is, be sure its clear to you and to them.
- Send them home with info. Don’t let them forget about you! Send them home with something that reminds them of the celebration (and your service times!). I’ve discovered that giving them something fun makes a big splash. Maybe it’s candy or an easy craft project that goes home with the kids, including a brief overview of the Bible story & lesson with an invite for next week. Or maybe you set up a photo backdrop and encourage family photos that you then post on your social media pages. Families will often tag themselves in the photos and this allows you to go back and thank them for attending and invite them to come back again.
- FOLLOW UP! Again, this seems obvious but so often we’re exhausted and/or moving forward to the next event and we forget to follow up with the families that attended. If you captured contact info from these families, be sure that you take time to send an email, text, or even a handwritten note that acknowledges their attendance and reiterates that next step that you’ve identified. Make a plan to check on them in a few weeks to see if they’ve returned for another visit.
Every one of these steps can be as simple or as complex as you have time and resources for. Easter shouldn’t be a struggle, and ensuring these steps are accomplished will help us survive.
What are your Easter survival tips?
Michelle Suarez 