A Last-Minute Easter Checklist for Churches

By Aaron Wilson

The week leading up to Easter is one of the most celebrated seasons on the Christian calendar. Unfortunately, it can also be one of the most stressful times for church leaders as they prepare for new guests and packed pews.

Having a simple Easter checklist in place can help alleviate some of the anxiety surrounding Holy Week. Here are a few last minute things you’ll want to remember as your church gets ready for Easter.

Make sure website information is up-to-date

Have you tweaked your Sunday schedule because of Easter? Make sure you’ve clearly communicated this on your website, which will likely be the first place a guest interacts with your church.

Also, make sure your staff list, ministry offerings, and contact information are correct on the site. In today’s digitally driven world, letting your “yes be yes” online is important when making a first impression.

Check your church’s social media accounts

Speaking of online engagement, does your church have any social media accounts? If so, are they being monitored?

Easter is the time of year a church will most likely receive social media inquiries about their services. If an online question sits for days without a response, it sends the message this isn’t a welcoming church.

While social media may be back-of-mind the week of Easter, it’s important to have someone monitoring your accounts and hopefully posting on them as well.

Have extra children’s ministry workers on-call

Nothing makes Sunday morning more stressful than having to scramble for volunteers—especially when it comes to staffing a children’s ministry. Lighten this pressure by asking people in advance if they’ll be on-call to serve Easter morning.

If extra attendance requires you to expand a class or slide someone into a teaching role at the last minute, it can be helpful to have a simple lesson plan ready to go. One popular resource for this is Resurrection Eggs—a colorful visual aid that helps explain the gospel to kids.

Showcase security in your children’s area

Visiting families may be hesitant to drop off their children at ministries that don’t have an apparent security system in place. Having staff or volunteers positioned at entrances and exits of the children’s area this Easter will go a long way to visually communicate to guests their kids will be safe and cared for.

If your church uses a badge or barcode system, remind volunteers to stick with protocol and not be lax in matching kids with adults during pickup.

For additional resources, Lifeway is offering free security training through its Ministry Grid platform, through May 1.

Reserve space for visitors

Encourage your members to save space for guests in the parking lot and in the pews. As much as possible, try to reserve parking spots close to the building for guests. And make seating in the back of your service available.

Visitors don’t want to walk in front of an entire congregation to take the only available seats in the first two rows. Consider roping off some of the back seating until it’s closer to service time.

Prep your welcome team

Having a prepared welcome team ready to answer guests’ questions goes a long way in creating an atmosphere of hospitality.

While you’d love for every member of your church to be actively welcoming guests this Easter, it’s wise to also have a team specifically assigned to the task. Consider providing them welcome bags to distribute. Include information about your church as well as a resource or two to help guests go deeper with the gospel message.

Remember to rest in Christ

As glorious as Easter is, it can be exhausting for churches. After going through this list and making other preparations, don’t forget to give you, your family, and your staff time to rest to enjoy the celebration of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

AARON WILSON (@AaronBWilson26) is associate editor for Facts & Trends.