About me…
My role as an executive pastor is something like a Chief Operations Officer and a Senior Associate Pastor. I love connecting high capacity people and getting them the resources they need to make a difference in our world through the local church.
I also love working to develop creative solutions for communications, technology and ministry programs that reach our communities.
Mar
30
Is Easter still the “Super Bowl” event for churches?
Filed Under Holidays, Ministry | Leave a Comment
Tony Morgan recently posted on his blog some questions that have me wondering if Easter is still the “Super Bowl” event that it may have been for reaching people for Christ.
The post is based on this article from the Barna Group which addresses people’s perceptions of Easter. I admit that I’m not quick to take this type statical analysis and immediately drawl conclusions for programing changes. But in this case, it has me wondering if the culture is not changing faster than we think. For example, if it’s true that in your community only one-third of the people view Easter as a religious celebration that might impact how we approach our Easter programing. And, what if it’s true that 19 percent of the born-again Christians don’t view Easter as a religious celebration, either? Wouldn’t that impact how we approach Easter?
The stat that Tony picked up on and I’m agreeing begs the question is:
“Overall, 31% of active churchgoers said they would definitely invite someone they know who does not usually attend a church to accompany them to a church service on Easter weekend this year.”
Unfortunately, some might think that’s not all that bad of a percentage. What it means is that the majority of people don’t see Easter as a compelling way to reach people with the Gospel and that might mean we should be re-thinking how we approach this holiday. Certainly, we should not be putting all our eggs in the Easter basket if we are serious about reaching the lost 
Tony puts it this way:
“For churches trying to reach a post-Christian, unchurched culture, I think we need to wake up to the fact that Christmas and Easter are no longer slam dunks for drawing crowds and sharing the Gospel.”
So, if Easter isn’t really the evangelist “Super Bowl” event we were hoping for what should it be? And, more to the point, what might the local church do to reach people through Easter?
