As you well know, we are just a few days away from Easter Sunday. For pastors, this is like our Super Bowl Sunday. We build up so much for it … and we should. I was a senior pastor, at two different churches, for thirteen Easter Sundays. Each of those years, Easter was our highest attended service of that year with more first-time guests attending than any other weekend. It is well documented this is, by far, one of the easiest opportunities to attract unchurched and de-churched individuals and families to your church. We should work hard, even harder than normal. We should work smarter, even smarter than normal. Can I be open and honest with you? I am about to experience my third Easter Sunday NOT being a senior pastor and I see it a whole lot different now. A little over two years ago I transitioned to work for the network of churches I have always been a part of. I am still very involved in ministry, even local church ministry, but not as a senior pastor.
Below are just a few quick thoughts I pondered and considered this past week. I hope it is an encouragement to you. Please get this first one.
Don’t put your identity (and self-worth) in your Easter attendance!
I know you have probably been told this before, but it is a whole lot easier said than done. It was for me anyway. During my thirteen years there were some Easter Sundays I felt great, and there were some I did not feel so great. It didn’t always match up with the work and preparation leading up to Easter. There were just some years we didn’t have as many as I expected. I allowed attendance to dictate my emotion as I remembered the amazing work of Jesus. Can I tell you how silly this can be? The first Easter Sunday I served as a senior pastor I was in the Flint, MI area. We planned and promoted to have a huge Easter Egg hunt. The night before Easter it snowed a foot. On the bright side, the eggs were hidden pretty well. 🙂 I remember being devastated because we didn’t have as many people as I wanted. Why couldn’t they brave the snow to come hunt Easter Eggs.
Model what you want your church to do.
What does every pastor want their church members to do? That’s easy … bring as many people as they possibly can. Thinking back over thirteen Easter services the ones that stand out to me are the ones where I personally brought someone with me and they experienced life-change. As a pastor, you can preach and preach and preach … and encourage and encourage and encourage … and you can even bribe and bribe and bribe your members to bring people. Nothing, however, is more effective than leading by example. Pastor, who are YOU bringing to church with you this Sunday?
Don’t neglect your family.
For thirteen Easters I poured my heart and soul into my church. I didn’t work 40-hour weeks leading up to Easter. It was probably closer to 80-hour weeks. The people in my church expected it of me. I put unrealistic expectations on myself. A reality that I am living today … I will not celebrate Easter with a single person from either of those two churches, but I will celebrate with my wife and three kids. It is so easy to neglect our families. We can even attempt to justify it. But you know this … our family is our number one ministry. Make sure your family knows they are number one this weekend.
You are helping to build God’s kingdom, not your own.
Again, this is something we know but can lose sight of. I experienced something recently that I probably would not have while serving as a senior pastor. I make it a habit of going into a gas station to pay for my gas. I don’t have a problem with paying at the pump, I just don’t have as many opportunities to interact with the unchurched as I would like. I try to build up a relationship with the sales clerk at the gas station I regularly attend. Last week while interacting with the sales clerk in my normal Kum&Go, I shared an Easter invite card with him from the church where I am a member and asked if he would be my guest. Another sales clerk working at a different register shared, “Oh, man. I was going to invite you to be my guest at my church this Easter.” He shared what church he attended, and I know the church well. It is a solid church, even in the same denomination. I told the sales clerk I would love for him to be my guest but encouraged him to go with the guy that he works with almost every day. I know that having a special draw for Easter is great, but relationships are what keeps people coming back to church. Upon another visit to the same Kum&Go this week (I have a truck that doesn’t get great gas mileage, so I am a frequent customer) I asked the second clerk about this weekend. He was excited to let me know that Sam was going to church with him. I don’t know if I would have been this open four years ago. I was convinced that everyone needed to come to my church. I encourage you to take a few minutes, even right now, and pray for the other churches in your town. They will reach people that you never will. Let’s work together to see God’s kingdom increased.
Follow-up is just as important as promotion.
Many churches say, “We expected you to come we just don’t care if you come back.” Ok, I don’t know any church that says that. But many churches communicate that by not prioritizing their follow up. This is especially true for any one that makes a decision for Jesus. I know of pastors that take time off of work the week following Easter. They are exhausted and maybe even a little burned out. You have to think of your Easter experience as more than a single event on a single day (or days if you are having multiple services). You need to extend your thought of Easter at least through the next week. Many pastors experience a spiritual high on Easter Sunday and then come crashing back to reality the week following Easter as the attendance drops back to normal. There are lots of strategies and systems you can apply for your follow up. Just make sure you are doing something!
Finally, I want to encourage you to take full advantage of this incredible opportunity to share the hope of Jesus Christ with a lost and dying world.
Do all you absolutely can to share this hope with as many people as you possibly can. Be crystal clear in your message. You don’t have to be cute and clever. Be clear and concise. Share stories of life change. Claim this promise from Scripture when Jesus said, “When I am high and lifted up, I will draw all men to Myself.” This Easter, make much of Jesus!
Every day I miss being a senior pastor. This week, I miss it more than ever. Know this, I am praying for you and for your church.
