On this week’s episode, we tackle the tough questions that every church is facing as Easter approaches:
- What’s the best way to maximize the ministry impact of Easter week?
- Is it possible for that momentum to multiply even after your final service ends?
Click here for a Easter follow-up summary guide based on the ideas in this episode.
Learn more about the Volunteer Accelerator here.
- Easter - Is what happens before or after more important?
- 4:24 - Minecraft Easter egg hunt to walk through the story of Jesus.
- 6:41 - Use the pandemic to pause and ask valuable questions about how your church approaches Easter. What are you doing? Why? For whom?
- 9:27 - Is it possible to create a hybrid Easter experience that appeals and applies to both outsiders and insiders?
- Creating a hybrid often leads to doing neither one well.
- 12:03 - Using Easter as an opportunity to engage young families who have not yet returned to church post-COVID.
- 14:04 - Using Saturday “fun” events as a stepping stone to building relationships with people. Consider reaching people as a marathon, not a sprint. Invite people to come back on Sunday for Easter service, but be OK if they don’t come back right away.
- Then measure the results and impact of that event on attendance long-term.
- 15:54 - Churches doing a primarily “fun” event should look and feel a little different from other fun events (e.g., PTA events). They should know us by our love. It should be extraordinary and attractive to people.
- 16:35 - What are we aiming for people to experience when they come on Easter?
- Visualize it like a storyboard through someone’s journey: the face of the parking team, the welcome team’s interactions, the connection center with a free coffee card, etc.
- 19:12 - Baptism on Easter Sunday vs baptism on the weekend after Easter
- 22:17 - How do you equip and train your people to be at their best on days like Easter when people show up who might only come to church once or twice per year?
- 27:01 - How do you follow up with people after Easter?
- At least one contact point within 24 hours of someone filling out a connection card.
- For Easter, enlist a few extra volunteers into the standard process for follow up to help with the extra influx of people.
- Suggestions for actions steps to suggest to people when following up.
- 29:32 - The importance of keeping your connect card simple so as not to overwhelm people. Name, phone, email, and ability to subscribe to the newsletter.
- 30:00 - Logistical considerations leading up to Easter, for example, reorder connect cards so you have enough! Then equip your ushers to replace and replenish them between services.
- 30:50 - The personal experience of attending a church for 2 years without being contacted by that church even after filling out many connection cards. Contrasted with a different church where, within 24 hours of visiting had a call from the associate pastor just wanted to connect and hear more about them and their family.
- 35:14 - Do the people your serving feel known, cared for, and recognized? This can be the thing that makes the difference in your ministry!
- Remember that a connection card is a person that you worked and prayed for! Not just a number. We need to be good stewards of the people God blesses us with.
- Many people are shocked if a pastor reaches out to them.
- The care for people must be genuine or people will be able to tell.
- 37:15 - Application Question: Look at your church staff and ask, “How does the time, energy, and effort that we’re pouring into preparation for Easter similar to the time and effort we spend following up with people after Easter? How will carry that momentum forward?”
- 38:09 - Everything in a church’s budget can be boiled down to an in-reach (grow) and an outreach (reach) bucket. Many times there is a disproportionate ratio in how much people will spend on outreach.
- Easter might be a good moment to pause and explore how you are working with people and developing them even after they are connected with your church.
- Email Trabelus: trabelus.whitfield@ministryarchitects.com
- Email Melissa: melissa.rau@ministryarchitects.com
- Email Bryant: bryant.johnson@ministryarchitects.com