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How your church can plan for easter online

Today the White House announced the Annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn is being canceled “out of abundance of caution.” This celebration dates back to 1878, when Rutherford B. Hayes was president and has only been canceled a handful of times during World War I and II and in the late 40s-early 50s because of food conservation and construction at the White House. My family had the honor of attending this tradition on the White House lawn last year. We met a family that prioritizes this event every year because they enjoy it so much. 

I’m guessing this cancellation came after much discussion and ultimately there will be a lot of people who were looking forward to attending that will be disappointed. Let alone all the work that has gone into making this event happen even weeks before the actual event. But White House officials had to make this hard call to protect our public from the spread of the coronavirus.

Churches need to start making decisions about how to communicate and encourage people to take part in your church’s Easter services this year. And we probably need to assume that they won’t be held onsite and in-person this year. So instead of hoping for the best with onsite guests, we need to start planning on other ways to connect with people to share the hope of Christ during this season. 

This is the beauty of Christ’s church. We can still be the Church. Unlike a canceled Easter Egg Roll, we can still host our guests in other ways online. We can still use technology as a ministry tool. We don’t have to cancel the whole thing, we just have to think about it with fresh eyes. 

So what’s Plan A for Easter this year? Let’s strategically think through “off-site Easter” so we can invite and welcome first-time guests and then help them get connected as a follow up. 

Here are a few things to think through:

1. Shift your thinking that “off-site Easter” is a Plan B. Start thinking about it as Plan A and swiftly start planning and implementing because there are less than four weeks till Easter Sunday. 
2. Where are the places for you to be consistent? What makes Easter Sunday special? How do you bring these elements into your online experience?
3. What can you let go of during this time? What have been things your church has done just because you always do? This is a great time to let go of things that aren’t working as well anymore.
4. Where are the opportunities to be creative and/or to try something new? This is uncharted territory, so dream big.
5. Once you know the answers to the above questions, start communicating to your congregation as soon as possible. Acknowledge the disappointment and then ask your congregation to rally with you to make the most of this new way to reach out to people who aren’t close to Jesus.
6. Give your congregation online tools to connect with and invite their friends and family to your online experience. Create shareable social graphics, send them an email invite they can forward on to their friends and give them ways they can serve your church and others during this time.
7. Because your church won’t be spending dollars on special bulletin printing, stage design, etc., use these dollars to promote your services in new ways. 
8. One of the biggest misses we see with churches each year is not strategically planning for the follow up with guests after Easter. We put so much time and effort into Easter services and the publicity of the dates but not enough time in planning for post-Easter. Make sure to create a plan on how you will invite people to engage with your ministry ongoing. We want guests to continue to want to know more about Jesus and provide them with the resources to help them do this. What are new ways this is going to happen in light of not being able to meet in-person? Maybe you create a Facebook Group to encourage community while we are socially distancing ourselves. Maybe you post follow-up videos each day post-Easter to reinforce the message and encourage people in a time when we all really need it. Maybe you provide counselors for people to chat with or people from your church to pray with. 
9. The most important question to answer and act on is how are you living out your mission during this time? The church is poised and ready because Christ goes before us. We live with hope because of what Christ has done for us. He has commanded us to be strong and courageous. To not be afraid; to not be discouraged, for the Lord our God will be with us wherever we go. (Joshua 1:9) 

Here is a free Easter Planning Worksheet 

So be bold and dream big because God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. I’m excited for the church in this time. I’m not fearful. COVID-19 is forcing us to all think differently about how we connect with people online. Being the church in this time in history has to look different if we are going to reach people that desperately need Jesus. 

Our team at Fishhook is praying for you each day. You and your work matter. 

Today the White House announced the Annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn is being canceled “out of abundance of caution.” This celebration dates back to 1878, when Rutherford B. Hayes was president and has only been canceled a handful of times during World War I and II and in the late 40s-early 50s because of food conservation and construction at the White House. My family had the honor of attending this tradition on the White House lawn last year. We met a family that prioritizes this event every year because they enjoy it so much. 

I’m guessing this cancellation came after much discussion and ultimately there will be a lot of people who were looking forward to attending that will be disappointed. Let alone all the work that has gone into making this event happen even weeks before the actual event. But White House officials had to make this hard call to protect our public from the spread of the coronavirus.

Churches need to start making decisions about how to communicate and encourage people to take part in your church’s Easter services this year. And we probably need to assume that they won’t be held onsite and in-person this year. So instead of hoping for the best with onsite guests, we need to start planning on other ways to connect with people to share the hope of Christ during this season. 

This is the beauty of Christ’s church. We can still be the Church. Unlike a canceled Easter Egg Roll, we can still host our guests in other ways online. We can still use technology as a ministry tool. We don’t have to cancel the whole thing, we just have to think about it with fresh eyes. 

So what’s Plan A for Easter this year? Let’s strategically think through “off-site Easter” so we can invite and welcome first-time guests and then help them get connected as a follow up. 

Here are a few things to think through:

1. Shift your thinking that “off-site Easter” is a Plan B. Start thinking about it as Plan A and swiftly start planning and implementing because there are less than four weeks till Easter Sunday. 
2. Where are the places for you to be consistent? What makes Easter Sunday special? How do you bring these elements into your online experience?
3. What can you let go of during this time? What have been things your church has done just because you always do? This is a great time to let go of things that aren’t working as well anymore.
4. Where are the opportunities to be creative and/or to try something new? This is uncharted territory, so dream big.
5. Once you know the answers to the above questions, start communicating to your congregation as soon as possible. Acknowledge the disappointment and then ask your congregation to rally with you to make the most of this new way to reach out to people who aren’t close to Jesus.
6. Give your congregation online tools to connect with and invite their friends and family to your online experience. Create shareable social graphics, send them an email invite they can forward on to their friends and give them ways they can serve your church and others during this time.
7. Because your church won’t be spending dollars on special bulletin printing, stage design, etc., use these dollars to promote your services in new ways. 
8. One of the biggest misses we see with churches each year is not strategically planning for the follow up with guests after Easter. We put so much time and effort into Easter services and the publicity of the dates but not enough time in planning for post-Easter. Make sure to create a plan on how you will invite people to engage with your ministry ongoing. We want guests to continue to want to know more about Jesus and provide them with the resources to help them do this. What are new ways this is going to happen in light of not being able to meet in-person? Maybe you create a Facebook Group to encourage community while we are socially distancing ourselves. Maybe you post follow-up videos each day post-Easter to reinforce the message and encourage people in a time when we all really need it. Maybe you provide counselors for people to chat with or people from your church to pray with. 
9. The most important question to answer and act on is how are you living out your mission during this time? The church is poised and ready because Christ goes before us. We live with hope because of what Christ has done for us. He has commanded us to be strong and courageous. To not be afraid; to not be discouraged, for the Lord our God will be with us wherever we go. (Joshua 1:9) 

Here is a free Easter Planning Worksheet 

So be bold and dream big because God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. I’m excited for the church in this time. I’m not fearful. COVID-19 is forcing us to all think differently about how we connect with people online. Being the church in this time in history has to look different if we are going to reach people that desperately need Jesus. 

Our team at Fishhook is praying for you each day. You and your work matter.