Tag: easter

  • Easter Hype

  • What does the Easter Mayhem teach us?

    Several weeks have now passed since Easter. My hope is that by now, church leaders are scratching their heads and wondering if it was all worth it.

    Easter mayhem?

    A lot, LOT, of churches consider Easter to be a day for growth. For church marketing types, it is Super Bowl Sunday. With the highest attendance of the year the attitude seems to be “Since lots of people are coming let’s do something awesome and maybe those visitors will come back!”

    And boy do churches go all out. They alter the schedule. They plan a special service. The kids ministry is amped up. There are meetings about the big day. There is a special marketing plan for the day. There are mailers and prizes and flowers and bands and rehearsals and... then it’s over.

    Somehow in the middle of this we try to be somber and remember that Our Lord was crucified and three days later resurrected! But the truth is that staff at those churches are hyped up on adrenaline and hope that this is the year that they will reach a new attendance record.

    Easter mayhem is the 2000s version of Vacation Bible School which was the 1980s version of Sunday School

    I don’t know how it all got started. But somehow Easter went from a holiday we solemnly celebrated to a day where people can win a car for showing up to church.

    Easter, in some churches, has become less a religious holiday and more a church growth opportunity.

    Easter is the highest attended weekend of the year in most churches. But the weekend after Easter is one of the lowest attended weekends of the year. Followed by the month of May– where church attendance and program enthusiasm typically murmurs out as the school year comes to an end.

    What’s the point?

    The point is exactly my point. While attendance is typically at an all-time high engagement is at an all-time low.

    And when you look at the return on that investment– Easter mayhem is as effective at reaching people as Vacation Bible School. There may be a whole lot of people there for the event, but does it translate to long-term attendees?

    Not in my experience.

    What translates to long-term attendees?

    Neighbors loving neighbors. Finding a community where you belong. Community service. And other things that aren’t as sexy as giving people a car on Easter Sunday or shaving a pastors head on the last day of VBS.

  • Our first earthquake

    We were just finishing up a glorious Easter supper when we all said, “Do you feel that?”

    I looked to my right to see the chandelier rocking back and forth. It was about that time when Kristen and I both realized we were having an earthquake.

    It wasn’t violent. Our house swayed back and forth. It literally felt like we were on a ship, rocking back and forth in the waves. And it lasted a while.

    This was our first real earthquake experience since living in San Diego. For our kids, it was the first one they felt.

    Paul– having finished supper and roaming the house in boredom, rode out the earthquake laying on our bed. He thought it was a blast. Megan, slightly more logical, grabbed her stuffed bunny and went outside. Paul giggled and Megan was freaked out.

    Twitter lit on fire. Within 2 minutes of the quake, 35,000 tweets were posted with people saying they had felt it. People up in the Los Angeles area, people in Palm Springs, people in rural California and Arizona, and people as far away as Phoenix felt it. (5 hour drive)

    Scientists later confirmed that the quake was centered south of Mexicali, about 100 miles from our house, and measured 7.2.

    No damage at our house. Within about 10 minutes we went back to Easter as usual.

    Aftershock city! Just like when you get off of a long boat ride, it felt like the earth kept moving. Some were real aftershocks and some were our imagination.

    Our friends south of the border faired much worse, I’m afraid. CNN is reporting that 2 people were killed and lots more were injured. Additionally, tons of homes were seriously damaged.

    It was an Easter to remember. And an Easter to be thankful for building codes.

  • Dolly, Elvis, Johnny on Easter Morning

    Thank you Ms. Dolly.

    Mr. Presley, you may be the king of rock-n-roll, but you ain’t the King. Thanks for that.

    Thank you Mr. Cash. You really brought it home.

    HT to John for the Dolly Parton link.

  • Do I Fit in Here?

    welcome-to-churchThat’s what many visitors are wondering today in churches across the country.

    It’s my hope that churches around the country spent more time answering that question today than anything else.

    Jesus tore the veil between us and God. His death eliminated the need for a High Priest to represent us to God. Jesus looked at a hodgepodge group of sinners, tax collectors, political nut cases, prostitutes, and fishermen and said to them… “on you I will build my church.” That’s hope for you and I. A church is a community of messy people.

    We aren’t very priestly. We aren’t entirely seperate from sin. But what we are is atoned for and stumbling towards faith. Two steps forward, one step back.

    Do I fit in here? That is the question visitors want answered.

    If your church communicates that on Easter. Those visitors will come back. Roughly 79% of adults in America believe in the literal resurrection of Jesus. Don’t convince them in what they already believe.

    Convince  them in what they don’t believe…

  • Easter Strategery

    peeps

    If church is all about reaching numbers than this is Super Bowl Week for church.

    If you work in a church, holy week is kind of hell week. Church staff can’t wait for Monday. (Speaking as a former church staffer!) Weeks of planning and putting together a marketing plan, an event plan, a parking plan, and a planning session to make sure all of the plans are lined up.

    Here’s the dirty secret: Easter strategery doesn’t lead to long term benefits to 99% of churches.

    – While attendance is high on Easter morning, engagement is at an all-time low.

    – While production is high on Easter morning, these are largely the same people who saw the Easter show last year and weren’t effectively changed.

    – While tensions are high on Easter morning, people who are coming aren’t coming to find a church… they are there to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.

    I’m not sure how Easter became the Christian Super Bowl, but I do know a better plan.

    – Make the Easter service and the events leading up to it about Jesus.

    – Instead of the whole thing leading up to a Gospel presentation (Built on the false assumption that visitors aren’t believers in the resurrection… I mean, why would they be there?) why not make the service a kick-off in how you can get involved in living out the message of Jesus in your community? (Romeo nailed this last year IMO) I’m not saying we should share the Gospel, but I’m thinking we should all remember that the Gospel is all these Christmas and Easter folks hear at church. Maybe that’s why they think your church is irrelevant?

    – Instead of hosting an experience people won’t see for the next 12 months, why not invest that energy in meeting the practical needs of the people who come? A gift card for groceries says “I love you” way more than hiring a band.A warm handshake and an open heart is way more valuable then an Easter play.

    – Instead of marketing hype, why not invest in relationship hype?

    – Instead of stressing out the staff, why not send a message to the community that the church is healthy by “forcing” the staff to work less and experience Holy Week?

    – Perhaps it is time most churches took an old school approach to Easter morning, let the visitors come. Invite them back. But don’t bend over backwards for people who are only committed to coming Easter and Christmas. While it is an “opportunity” I think it’s more a distraction from the people who really want to grow in Jesus than an opportunity to reach those who have already decided to be nominal.

    Side note to those who don’t get what I’m talking about: Imagine the pageantry that you’ll experience at your church this weekend. Now, multiply that by every church and your community. Then envision that across the country… what you’ll see is an “Easter industry” that is as weird as the the Easter aisle at Target. It just doesn’t fit, but we accept it!

  • An Ode to Peeps

    I actually like the candy covered marshmallow goodness. They are strangely addicting and I am certain that they somehow properly reflect the serious nature of Easter. This video is dedicated the the millions of peeps who have given their lives at the hands of middle schoolers armed with boredom and a microwave.

    Fear of Flight from Orin Zebest on Vimeo.

  • Sunday’s Comin’

    Anyone who was at the service last night will remember this video. (Totally digging the subwoofer on this one) I blushed when a couple of people assumed that I made the video… I wish! Here it is.

    By the way, if you are somehow on the bubble about the service tommorow… it’s going to be worth it! 7 kids have chosen to follow Jesus and get baptized, including our daughter Megan. It’s going to be awesome!

  • Dipping Day

    easter eggsThink about this, you you are an egg, today is dipping day. Millions and perhaps billions of eggs will be boiled, cooled, then dipped in some sort of dye.

    Sure, Easter eggs themselves have pagan roots… but Christianity is a religion that redemptively uses other culturally relevant traditions and customs all the time.

    Enjoy the tradition. I know our kids will.

  • Easter Egg Hunt Video

    This is pretty raw. But it shows what we were up to and how much fun it was. Again, thanks to all that helped pull this one off. I think there were about 25 volunteers… awesome!