The only 2 things to concern yourself with this Easter
I recently injured my knee somehow.
I guess I’ve arrived at an age where you don’t know when or how you’ve actually injured something.
All I know is I can hardly walk and I am working from home and it’s driving me crazy at times.
As I wait for an MRI, relief has only come from a red light therapy leg wrap that I use morning and evening.
One time I used it though and the relief didn’t come. I was discouraged until I noticed something:
it was unplugged.
Been there?
Just as no benefit comes from an unplugged injury treatment… there is no benefit from people coming to your church if they remain unconnected.
I often say these days that no one ever made a disciple out of an unconnected person.
Literally, connection proceeds discipleship. Even Jesus’s discussion of how people bear fruit in John 15 revolved around their level of one thing:
connection.
That means this Easter, the only thing that matters is getting people connected to God and each other.
In a guest’s journey toward that summit, your efforts as a Sherpa to lead them there should be focused and unencumbered.
List anything that competes with that goal of connection and eliminate it to invest your energies on these 2 realities this Easter:
➊ The battle is won or lost at the Guest Service level (not assimilation).
Don’t bother having your One Program for assimilation at your Easter services.
We usually eliminate it on Easter, especially if it is a 5-Sunday month.
Why? Because Easter guests are not your typical guests.
Though some are actually looking for a church and Easter is the trigger for attending, most of your guests are celebrating Easter at someone’s home afterward (maybe even their own).
There’s no time to hang out — just worship and go celebrate with family or friends.
That being said, their pre-service experience will determine whether they return or not.
So focus on things like:
➡️ A great parking lot experience with friendly people strongly directing them to the best spaces.
➡️ Having teams who serve after service at your One Place (we call ours “Guest Central”) also serve before the service — walking people to kids check-in, showing them where the restrooms are, and even walking them to their seat.
➡️ If guests who come early will be waiting for a time in their seats, have those same team members offer to bring them a free coffee to their seats. Ask how they like their coffee and offer a drink to their kids if they are sitting with them, even if it’s just a small water.
Hint: don’t let what you can’t do for everybody keep you from doing it for somebody.
➡️ Read further about the difference made from these kinds of unexpected acts of hospitality here and also here. Share/use these posts with the discussions questions to give your team a great vision for this.
➋ The “win” for Easter is simply to get your guests to return.
My friend Jason Young calls this The Come Back Effect.
Though their unconscious decision about whether to come back is formed in the first 7 minutes after they get out of their car, coming back becomes something they plan for when you do things like this:
➡️ Promote a sermon series that hits the needs that your guests have kicking off “next week” (the week after Easter).
➡️ Cast vision from the stage about a topic or issue that next week’s message will address and that “you can’t miss this one” as it will share some things you will not expect to hear in church. (Make sure your Pastor delivers on this one-it’s not hard. Think “teaser trailer” instead of just “movie poster”.)
➡️ Offer business card invites at the exits, or hand them to everyone when they come in. New people invite others to your church, sometimes more effectively than long time members. These quick and inexpensive printed materials are worth the investment.
➡️ Give them a nudge the Friday after Easter. This means send a text, email or both to your Easter guests to remind them of the message they can hear this Sunday that they won’t want to miss. Why Friday? Because even if they had a great experience at your church, most people who are not regular churchgoers may not return just because it’s not their habit. They won’t make a plan… unless they get a nudge on Friday. They need something to remind them of the positive experience they had on Easter and what they might be able to receive if they come this weekend. Friday night is the time people start thinking about their weekend plans so a late afternoon communication works well.
Of course a clear explanation of the good news on Easter is the power behind all of this. Having a way to respond, even spontaneously, will help them connect to God as you connect them to your spiritual family over time.
Just remember: an unconnected person is about as useful and effective as my red light leg wrap when it’s unplugged.
No one can become a follower of Jesus unless they get connected to someone.
That’s why these 2 focuses are your best play this Easter. So go for it!
TO CHEW ON WHILE WE CLIMB
What is competing with making a connection with people this Easter at your church? What can be eliminated to focus more energy on making a positive connection for guests?
Which teams could be envision to do something out of the ordinary for guests on their way into your service? What kinds of things could that be in your context?
How can you envision and equip these teams to do this well and in time for Easter, even if it’s just one thing?
