- 1. Easter Outreach
- 2. Church Promotion/Marketing
- 3. Clean up the Grounds and Building
- 4. Prepare Your Greeter Ministry
- 5. Order Materials
- 6. Decorate
- 7. Prepare an Easter Sermon
Every church celebrates Easter a little differently. While some may host an Easter egg hunt, others decide to put on an Easter play. No matter what your church is planning, Easter takes a great deal of preparation. With much to prepare it is easy to overlook some things. Read on for 7 ways you can prepare your church for a great Easter service.
1. Easter Outreach
Easter is a great time of year to get your whole church involved in outreach. The more people you have help, the bigger impact you will make on your community.
Door hangers or tracts are a good way to involve your church members. Assemble teams to canvas the neighborhoods in your area and invite people to your Easter service.
If you do not have a lot of time or willing volunteers to pass out tracts and door hangers, you can mail out postcards instead. It will take up less of your time while your invitations make their way directly into homes in your community.
Be sure to order any Easter outreach materials at least 5 weeks before your Easter service or event so you have time to get them out.
For more Easter outreach ideas, read our article 7 Crazy Good Easter Outreach Ideas.
2. Church Promotion/Marketing
According to a Pew Research article, in the weeks leading up to Easter more people search the internet for “church” than any other time of the year. Put a good amount of time and effort into promoting your church on the internet, and your church will likely be the one they find and decide to attend. There are many other ways to promote your church on a budget, so get started early, and boost your attendance.
3. Clean up the Grounds and Building
Shortly before Easter, look over your church property and building and address any areas that need attention. Ensure that the grounds and parking lot are clean and free of debris, pull any weeds in your flower beds, trim overgrown shrubbery, refill bare areas in your beauty bark.
In the building clean any areas that may be overlooked during the normal cleaning schedule. Spot clean any stains in the carpet, wash windows, straighten up materials in pew racks, and have the auditorium thoroughly vacuumed. Make sure all bathrooms are especially clean and well stocked.
4. Prepare Your Greeter Ministry
Give your greeter team a refresher on their responsibilities by giving them a greeter handout to read. If you need more time and effort from your greeters during your Easter service, gathering them for a meeting is likely your best option.
If you do not have a greeter ministry, now is a great time to get one started! Put an announcement in your bulletin that you are looking for volunteers to greet guests as they visit. Here is a handshake graphic you can use for any announcements regarding your greeter ministry.
5. Order Materials
Take an inventory of any materials you will need on Easter and replenish those on which you are running low.
Offering Envelopes
Offering envelopes are important to keep track of as they are used each week. If you are running low on offering envelopes, reorder them at least 3 weeks before Easter. Some churches prefer to use Easter offering envelopes to make their Easter offering a little more special.
Connection Cards
Connection cards or visitor cards are a useful tool in an effort to convert visitors into members. They provide a way for you to gather guest’s contact information and a few details you can use to help fill their needs. Following up with your guests is crucial in converting guests to members, so connection cards are important to have.
Welcome packets
Welcome packets are a great part of the experience guests will have when they visit your church. They are a way of quickly introducing yourself as a church. The materials you provide in your welcome packet should answer some questions your guests may have. They should explain who you are, what you believe, what ministries are available to them, and who to go to if they have any questions. Make sure you have enough materials to assemble at least 10 more welcome packets than you think you will need on Easter Sunday.
Letterhead/Postcards
Church letterhead can be used to send out letters inviting your community to attend your Easter services. We have some Easter invitation letter templates you can download if you need some inspiration.
Letterhead or postcards can also be used to follow up with guests who attend. A letter from the Pastor or personal hand written postcard can go a long way to impress those who have visited. Greeters can also follow up by sending a handwritten postcard to any guests they have met.
6. Decorate
Decorating for Easter is not as important as many other Easter preparations, but it will give a good impression when guests visit your church on Easter. If you don’t have the budget to go all out, a little decoration is better than doing nothing at all. Easter is a day of celebration, so recognize that in your décor.
7. Prepare an Easter Sermon
The most important part of your Easter service is the Easter sermon. Even if the service time is already filled with a special play or music program, taking a short 5-10 minutes to tell the Easter story is very important. The chance that there are unsaved people sitting in the pews is far greater on Easter than any other Sunday of the year. Don’t waste the opportunity of reaching them with the gospel message.
Check out our article Easter Sermon Preparation: 9 Inspiring Easter Sermons if you need some sermon inspiration.