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With Christmas behind us, planning for Easter is already underway for many churches.  And it’s happening for good reason.  We know that Easter is one of those times during the year when people who aren’t normal churchgoers are more open to walking into church.  Because of that, I think there’s a temptation for churches to over-promise what their Easter experience will be like for people.  We so badly want people to come through the doors that our promotion for Easter festivities can become over-exaggerated.

So as you start planning for Easter, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Words have powerful meaning.  As churches, we love to use phases in ads like “life-changing” and “transformative.”  It is nearly impossible for you to guarantee someone will have these experiences regardless of how creative or cool your Easter service is.  Beyond word choice, be careful not to over-hype the reality of what you’re doing.  Always ask yourself if you can really follow through on what you’re promising.  Some people are already skeptical of the church.  Over-promising and under-delivering won’t help change that perception.

Have a follow-up plan.  For some churches, there’s so much effort put into Easter that there’s a major letdown in the following weeks.  If we’re really trying to reach unchurched people, we need to keep providing a meaningful worship experience well beyond Easter.  Have a plan for following-up with people after Easter and help them plug-in to the church.  Keep the Easter Sunday energy going year-round.  Too often a great Easter weekend is followed-up by a weekend of pastor vacation and lack-luster worship.  That’s no way to keep a congregation or new people engaged.

Do you have any good tips for Easter planning and follow-up?  What’s worked best for you to avoid Easter letdown?