It’s been a tough year but things are finally starting to look a little better! Virus rates are down, vaccinations are up and people are starting to get out and attend larger gatherings - including church services.

No matter how you are currently meeting - in your building, outside, online or some hybrid of those - you want to see higher attendance and engagement for Easter. Following Easter, you will need a plan to move forward and keep your congregation, returning members and visitors engaged and back in the habit of attending church.

Don’t lose your Easter momentum!

Ministry never stops. In fact, the season after Easter is prime time for reaching out. Families will be looking for fun, safe activities and places they can go that get them out of the house (finally). These days, your community needs the hope your church can provide even more than ever.

And we are here to help. Here are two new ideas and a few resources to help you keep engagement high into the summer months:

1. Plan a powerful sermon series and see Easter attenders return

In a normal year, most churches start to wind down their ministry activities heading into summer as people go on vacation and attendance drops. But it’s 2022 and so much has changed. PLUS an early April Easter still provides you with seven weeks of ministry before Memorial Day! So keep your momentum and put those weeks to good use by building up your ministry and connecting.

This year there are some great new series that will not only connect visitors but will also increase the spiritual growth of your attendees as well: Consider these three options for April/May - all of these kits can be customized to fit your church and are licensed for use in person or online:

2. Make your church a safe place to be in person

Some of the people who are coming back into your church building may still be nervous about in-person gatherings. No matter the statistics in your area or how many people have been vaccinated, there is going to be some trepidation when it comes to returning.

As a church leader, your best strategy is to make your building as safe as you can and then communicate clearly about those steps.

Everyone has an opinion these days about safety protocols. And depending on your location, you may need to comply with local governmental regulations. As followers of Christ we want to make sure nothing we do will hinder the Gospel. If you choose to be cautious and maintain stricter guidelines there are a variety of tools that can help.

• Provide sanitizer and touchless dispensers in key areas around your church: by entrance and exit doors, outside the worship center, by the restrooms and near children’s areas.

• When offering the Lord’s Supper, make sure you use all-in-one communion cups that are sealed and safe. These cups fit into traditional trays, if you are ready to use those, or because you don’t have to worry about spills, they can be set on a table or in a basket.

3. Invite Visitors to Attend

Finally, reach out to your community and invite them to return to Church - but give them options. Online services are not going away - in fact it’s become its own “campus” for many churches. But no matter how you hold services no one will come or watch if you don’t invite them to be part of your community.