With Easter right around the corner, it’s never too early to get your church and staff ready for the big day. In part one of Maximizing Easter, we looked at how to mobilize your people. In part two, we talked about maximizing your talent, volunteers and ministries the day of. In this column, we’ll take a look at how to keep the momentum going in the weeks and months following Easter.

The key to making the most of any big day in your church’s life is having a carefully thought out plan and executing the follow up. Here are four big areas that deserve careful thought and planning to ensure you maintain momentum this Easter. These are just a few suggestions. You know your church and your community best. So, apply these principles to your situation, and go all in!

Follow-Up with Guests
You probably had one of the biggest days in your church’s history when it comes to visitors. Many of them filled out a contact card and have now given you their address, email and phone number, along with permission to use it. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity!

So, who gets a follow-up letter or phone call? Any first-time guests for sure. But more importantly, those who made a decision to follow Christ. Give them simple instruction about their next steps. Make sure to include details about your next baptism service, and invite everyone who visited to come celebrate on that day.

Consider how you as the lead pastor can get involved personally in the follow-up. Maybe you can call each person who made a decision to follow Jesus. Or how about a handwritten note to anyone who visited for the first time. If you can’t fit it into your own schedule, then assign a staff member to make an in-person visit to drop off a small gift, like a fresh batch of homemade cookies. Small gestures with a personal feel can go a long way in telling someone you care.

Discipleship is the most important aspect of the follow through out of Easter.

Personal follow-up says that you are serious about their spiritual growth. People who have to search the website or seek out a staff member to figure out their next steps will likely slip through the cracks. But consistent follow-up sends the message that you are interested in their development as a believer.

Plan a Big Celebration Sunday
Your follow-up should include information about a big celebration Sunday about one month out. This is a time to baptize anyone who recently made a decision to follow Christ, especially those who did so on Easter. Gather a team of staff and volunteers to make contact with them and encourage them to follow through in this great next step. Think about how you can make this the biggest baptism Sunday each year.

Incorporate a strategy to invite even more first time guests to your church that day. What kind of things is your community interested in? What is a big draw for your neighbors? And how can you leverage those types of events for the Kingdom? 

With that in mind, make this big event both family and community-focused. Make sure there are plenty of games and activities for kids of all ages. One year we held a classic car show at our church. We knew plenty of people would turn out for it since it was a natural draw for children, parents and especially men. You can easily raise awareness of your community involvement at the event by sponsoring a local aid organization or raising money through a raffle to impact your neighborhood.

Engage Parents and Children
On Easter, you put your best foot forward in your children’s area. You had great music, special attractions and an exciting time. Maybe you incorporated an egg hunt or an egg drop. Now these kids and parents are expecting you to follow through, if not in scale, then definitely in excellence.

In the weeks following Easter, make sure to continue highlighting the next big thing you plan to do for the children in your church. One simple way to do that is through summer camps. Easter is a great time to introduce the dates, costs and details about camp. It allows enough time for parents to set their summer vacation schedules and gives you the chance to invite every first-time guest in person. 

Utilize Your Discipleship Pathways
Now that you’ve seen people make decisions to follow Jesus, make their next steps crystal clear. If you don’t already have a well-defined discipleship pathway, now is the time to implement one. Whether it’s a one-time class, several weeks of instruction or a mentor style program, plot out how a new Jesus-follower grows in their faith and becomes a mature Christian.

Every aspect of your weekend service and church ministries should lead into a discipleship pathway. At the end of each service, as people fill out a decision card, the onramp to discipleship should be highlighted. Maybe you have a membership class or a dinner with the pastor to meet new prospects. Use this time to guide people onto that pathway. Make sure every person who signs up to volunteer in the church is also being discipled. This is the most important aspect of the follow through out of Easter.

Easter is a great time to maximize your discipleship efforts through small groups. Plan a small group launch the week after Easter to make it easy for new believers to connect. And then provide your group leaders with simple curriculum based on your sermon series that includes plenty of discussion time that leads to spiritual growth. Everyone stays on the same page and moves forward together.

Maximizing Easter begins by building momentum leading up to Easter, but it also involves striking while the iron is hot and keeping the momentum going. An influential leader will not only plan well but execute consistently. This takes getting your people on board. By showing them the benefits of the lead up and follow through, you can make sure each Easter is great and God gets the glory he deserves.