I was a full-time Creative Arts Pastor for eight years. And now that I’m out of the madness and insanity of the pace of that ministry, I feel like I can look back and see everything more clearly.
And I see with extreme clarity the things I’d do different when planning and implementing a church’s Easter services.
So when I stop all the self-editing I’m prone toward, here’s what comes out…
I WOULDN’T COUNT THE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE. Knowing the number of people who attended the Easter services only did more harm than good to my heart. While it always provided a temporary emotional lift, the next weekend services descended back down to a more normal level of attendeees. Reality set in, always mixed with a little depression. We should know names, then follow up – hard. But counting them never really did much good – except when I would later brag to other pastors about that number. Size mattered, I guess.
I’D TELL MORE PEOPLE-STORIES. I’d focus on creating 2-3 video stories of people whose lives have been absolutely transformed by the life of Christ. I’d work at weaving those creatively into the entire Easter experience. I’d also work to make baptisms (lots of them) happen during the Easter services.
I’D PERFORM A SECULAR SONG THAT EVERYONE KNOWS. Connecting with the blessed Unchurched is SO important on Easter. I’d find a great secular song that everyone knows, and kick off the service with it. I’ve been dying for a church to start their Easter services with Boston’s “Don’t Look Back”, or Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate”. Talk about setting the tone for a party!
I WOULDN’T PUT ADDED PRESSURE ON ARTISTS. I used to gather all the artists together (musicians, media folks, actors, etc.) and give them a pep talk. Usually that pep talk reminded them that “this is the biggest service of the year, so do everything extremely well.” While all of that’s true, they didn’t need me to remind them of that, placing even more responsibility on their volunteer shoulders. They ALREADY knew the stakes were higher – I didn’t have to tell them that. And if they didn’t already feel that, they probably shouldn’t be on the Easter stage.
I’D PAY ATTENTION TO UNPLANNED MOMENTS. Once the service gets moving, there are always unplanned moments when the Spirit of God whispers, “By the way. I’m here.” When those moments happen, it’s so important for the pastor, emcee, or worship leader to say something like, “That feeling we have right now is God. We hadn’t planned this, but He did.” It’s so easy to become solely concerned with getting through the service elements, and miss the God who is speaking through those elements.
I’D REHEARSE EVERY TRANSITIONAL STATEMENT. As a pastor, I was the king of wing. I wish I had planned exactly what to say in key transitional moments, and not winged it so much. I don’t think I ever realized this truth…
Coming out of a reflective song, testimony, or video, I could literally implant truth into the hearts of everyone in the room, with the exact sentence I uttered next.
If I had it to do over, I’d require that everyone on the stage write out, then memorize, then rehearse their transitional statements within the services. This not only takes away any ackward distractions; it also frees leaders to recognize God-moments better when they happen, because we’re not so concerned with making something up on the fly.
That’s a long list of do-overs. I hadn’t planned on making this post as long. I never do.
God’s richest blessings to you and your church as you plan and implement this year’s Easter services.
