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10 Steps to Effective Easter Preparation

Sean Cronin — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

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10 Steps to Effective Easter Preparation

By New Churches Team

Easter is one of the most important times of the year in the life of the church. Biblically speaking it is when Christ arose. But also, in terms of reaching visitors and unchurched people, there is not a better time of year. It’s important to be prepared for that. Here are ten steps to help you as you prepare for Easter.

Decide on the times of your services.

Are you going to add any additional services or are you sticking with your regular schedule? Decide as early as possible to help your church prepare.

Decide on the specials that will occur.

Are you going to use special curriculum in Sunday School? Are you going to offer any special programs for first-time guests? Are you going to do anything special in your kids ministry?

Get the website ready.

This is very important. Most newcomers check out your website before they ever come to your church. Think through the website. Do you need to do a countdown, evites, a button, or a banner? Highlight Easter as early as possible so people can start talking about it.

Create a promo package.

Your promo package could be branding the Easter service or Easter week or the weeks leading up to Easter. Put that branding on postcards, emails, invite cards, social media, and on your website.

Train your people.

Train ushers, Sunday School teachers, small group leaders, and anyone who might encounter guests. It’s important that they know what to expect and how to help when newcomers attend Easter Sunday.

Plan a service that is comfortable.

Hold as normal as a service as possible. Easter Sunday needs to look pretty close to a normal Sunday so that guests know what to expect and feel comfortable coming back.

Give familiar service elements.

Singing “Old Rugged Cross” and “Amazing Grace” works well on Easter Sunday. Don’t be afraid of being traditional. It’s important that guests are able to connect with something that is familiar to them. If service elements are unique and harder to understand, take the time to explain them. Let them know why you are doing what you are doing.

Give information about the church.

Put in guests’ hands a bulletin or brochure that points them to the website or social media where they can get more information after they leave. Newcomers want to know who you are and what you stand for.

Tell guests what’s next.

If you have a series, special event, or vibrant ministry that they shouldn’t miss, highlight it. Let them know what’s coming up and important in your church.

Follow up with visitors.

This may require a special team of volunteers, but it is critically important that you follow up with Easter visitors. Make a bigger deal out of it than you do regularly.

This article is adapted from a Ministry Grid training video by Ron Edmondson. Check out a free Easter planning guide here.

Source: 10 Steps to Effective Easter Preparation

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BETA10: Making the Most of a Phygital Easter

Sean Cronin — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 10:00:00 +0000

By TheChurch.Digital:

80 days and counting until Easter 2021 is upon us. If your church is like most, you’re currently avoiding thinking about the massive stress that is a Phygital Easter Service. It doesn’t have to be that way, and through the BETA SHOW we’re going to give you some practical insight today to help your church prepare for Easter 2021. With guest Ben Stapley we’re discussing in greater detail how to thrive this Easter both physically & digitally. Don’t avoid it. Embrace it. Learn how on the BETA SHOW.

Like the BETA SHOW? Check out more episodes here.

Answering Your Questions: THE BETA SHOW

We need your help. Text your questions to 4THECHURCH (484/324-8724) and we’ll answer them here on THE BETA SHOW. Seriously. Grab the phone. Text 484/324-8724 and tell us your questions. Where you’re stuck. What questions you’re asking of leadership. What questions leadership is asking of you… and let TCD help your church take some practical next steps, and give you some advice on how to BETA the situation at your church.

If you’re enjoying BETA, subscribe for free using your favorite podcast app below:

ON THE SHOW

Source: BETA10: Making the Most of a Phygital Easter

The post BETA10: Making the Most of a Phygital Easter appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Prepare for Easter: Onramps

Sean Cronin — Sun, 31 Mar 2019 09:00:49 +0000

This Article is from Replicate’s Prepare for Easter Series

by Chris Swain: In the early ’00s, as cell phones were becoming commonplace, I switched from printing off directions for long road trips to calling my wife on my mobile. She loved this process as you could imagine (please read that with extreme sarcasm). Imagine me driving through some significant traffic in a major city listing off all the options of which way to proceed and her trying to, in real time, help me navigate effectively. It was a total mess. One trip, in particular, comes to mind when I think of this pre-GPS era of my life. (Safety tip, don’t drive distracted!)

I was traveling through Dallas, Texas, heading to Austin, Texas. As I made my way south, I noticed there were several options from which to choose. One big choice was to go directly through the city or to travel around it in hopes that I would avoid major traffic. As someone who had never lived in Dallas, I didn’t realize at the time that there is no such thing as avoiding major traffic regardless of the route I chose. But, hopes high, I picked up my phone and called my wife for directions through the now looming spaghetti mixer.

My wife said hello, but I didn’t even reply before telling her where I was and where I was hoping to go. She immediately realized that the carefully prepared printed MapQuest directions she had provided to me before the trip were irrelevant. I had taken an onramp to a series of fly-overs that were confusing, and I needed to know what my next choice of highway was or else I would be lost. Rather than scold me for ignoring the prepared MapQuest data, she asked for more specifics on what my options were and entered it into her laptop. Just as I was about to decide at random between two highways, she told me the correct path to Austin, and I veered quickly onto that route.

Through my wife’s quick action and willingness to put up with my terrible driving habits and failure to navigate, I made it to my destination. I may have left out the part where we had a candid conversation about these issues; after all, I did have that phone and plenty of time to talk. Let’s just say I tried to improve on my next series of road trips.

Navigating major roadways can be tough no matter how you try to do it, even if you know the area. Navigating major ministry opportunities can present the same challenges for our churches. Days like Easter will present opportunities that we must navigate. A couple of key questions come to mind: Will we be prepared to take the journey and will we arrive at the desired destination? Too often we navigate days like Easter the same way I tried to make it through Dallas. Our ministry is speeding along, we know the general lay of the land, but instead of following a clear path, we fly by the seat of our pants, reacting rather than responding. Reacting to the situation means picking a lane and steering into it in the moment. Responding to a situation means being prepared to go the route that will be most effective. To respond rather than react, we must clarify a few things before Easter arrives.

This week lets focus on clarifying the onramps. In many ways, Easter itself is an onramp. More people will attend the church than the rest of the year. Likely, you will have more visitors on Easter. By attending on Easter, people may choose to stay and continue attending your church.

More people will attend the church than the rest of the year. Likely, you will have more visitors on Easter. By attending on Easter, people may choose to stay and continue attending your church.

Additionally, inconsistent attendees may decide to be more consistent. These are both great opportunities, but we should not stop there to be most effective. Onramps are ongoing processes or programs that help people connect. Easter is an onramp for people to the church. But what about onramps that lead to specific ministry? What about an onramp that moves people to join the church, get involved in biblical community, join a group, or even serve or give? Each of these elements, along with everything else that happens in your church needs an onramp. Ask yourself, and discuss with your team, how you can create clear onramps to every facet of your ministry this Easter. Will the kid’s ministry programming be an onramp for families to connect and serve? Will the invitation provide an onramp for people to join, connect to groups, and find a place to minister? Will people understand the clear next step they need to take when the service is over? Without a destination, you will never arrive. Pray about it, plan for it, and provide onramps that will help people connect this Easter.

Originally posted here. Used by permission.

By Chris Swain from Replicate.

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Source: Prepare for Easter: Onramps

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