There are two big days that every pastor circles on his or her calendar — Easter and Christmas. These two holidays often result in record attendance, and they represent the most natural opportunities for any church to attract visitors and assimilate disciples.

A study tells us that 96 percent of those who don’t currently attend church would visit if invited by someone they knew. That’s more than 9 out of every 10 lost people! We have a great harvest field in our own backyard and no better time to reap than Easter.

Easter is a great opportunity to implement a strategy to invite, retain and assimilate guests. In this three-part series we’ll talk about how to mobilize your efforts before Easter, maximize your service on the day itself, and continue the momentum afterwards by assimilating new people into your church.

First, let’s talk about how to generate momentum for Easter and get your church ready for the big day. Here are four things to keep in mind.

Start with Prayer
Any large endeavor by your church, especially one that involves evangelism and assimilation, should begin with prayer. This is an opportunity to involve the whole church weeks in advance, both in personal prayer time and in corporate worship. To keep the focus on evangelism at Easter, hand out prayer cards with three to five spaces for congregants to add the names of those they’ll be praying for and inviting to church. You can also have them make two copies, one to keep and one for the staff to pray over.

Keep the prayer focus in front of your congregation. Once, at a church where I was on staff, we accomplished this by using a prayer wall. One Sunday about two months before Easter we invited the whole church to write names of unsaved friends and family members on a blank wall in the church. As people walked by, it was a reminder to pray for each name on the wall. And afterwards, as these same people came to the Lord, they could be shown their name and how the whole church was praying for them.

You can adapt this any way you see fit. For instance, I’ve seen pastors use large white canvases for the same effect, with names written on it and hung in a visible place. Another technique may be to write the names on stones and put them near the entrance to the church. Making the names visible increases the opportunity to pray for these people.

Implement Your Plan Well in Advance
Easter is unlike any ordinary Sunday, so it’s appropriate to have a specific budget item allocated just for this weekend. Get every department involved, making sure everyone has submitted their acquisition requests well in advance. If there ever was a time to go all out, this is it.

Easter is a great opportunity to implement a strategy to invite, retain and assimilate guests.

Be prepared for an influx of guests. Not only will everyone who calls your church home be there on the same day, but you’ll likely have out-of-town family and plenty of first timers. Consider adding an additional service or an extra venue to accommodate the numbers. Make sure each volunteer area is fully staffed.

A good rule of thumb on big Sundays is to have each area manned at 110 percent of your intended staffing goal — and make sure they are adequately prepared. Plan a specific training day for new volunteers and a refresher for your more seasoned workers well in advance.

Plan your sermon strategically. If you preach a series format it’s always helpful to begin a new series on Easter as a way to draw your first-time guests back. And sermon prep also includes the weeks leading up to Easter, as you share vision and teach about volunteering, giving and personal evangelism.

Build Excitement and Anticipation within Your Congregation
Now that you’re prayed up and planned out, get excited about Easter! Share the momentum with your people and create opportunities for them to experience wins. Instill an awareness of the Holy Spirit’s prompting as congregants have conversations with their unsaved friends and family members.

One way to build the excitement is by giving a “conversation challenge.” Set a goal for how many Christ-centered conversations with lost people you want your church to have during the weeks leading up to Easter. Let’s say your goal is 1200. Each week have your people respond on the connect card with the number of conversations they had that week. This creates momentum, encourages evangelism and more importantly ensures more visitors will hear the gospel.

Another way to build excitement is by getting the word out. Simple marketing strategies not only advertise your church’s service times and location, but also provide a way for your people to get engaged. Whether it’s invite cards they can hand out at work, social media pieces they can link to on Facebook, or door-hangers they can distribute in their neighborhoods, use these tools to employ your people to spread the word and get involved.

Seed the Vision Early and Often
Start talking about Easter early on. Seed your vision for the day and what happens afterwards in discipleship. You can start this as early as you want, preferably in January. Use a Vision Sunday or annual church reports to share your expectation for Easter. Celebrate the previous Easter’s successes through video or announcements. Your church will only be as excited as you are, and the members will never catch your vision until you articulate it.

Finally, as you gear up for Easter make sure you spend enough time celebrating what God has already done, what He continues to do, and what He will do through your congregation. Easter is a great day, the day we celebrate the resurrection of our King! It’s the perfect time to celebrate as a congregation and lead new people into relationship with our Lord.