One Easter I was working for a church that did an “illustrated sermon” each year on Easter complete with sets, costumes and live animals on stage. This particular Easter the decision was made to include a small elephant in the pageant. I’m not sure how an elephant fits in the passion story, but it seemed like a good idea to someone. When the time came for the elephant to enter the auditorium it chose no. It chose instead to relieve itself on the carpet in front of the main door to the church, and it wasn’t going to move until it was done. So Easter came to stinky halt while we waited for an elephant to empty its bladder. In case you are wondering an elephant’s bladder can hold a lot of liquid.
I share that story to encourage pastors; no matter how rough your Easter services were at least cleaning up elephant pee isn’t on your To Do List.
Regardless how your Easter services went the key now is to turn your attention to what happens next for your church. Hopefully you have some new families to follow up and some stories of life change to share. So let’s roll up our sleeves and get back to work. Here are six things I think you should do to follow up on Easter:
1. Thank your staff and volunteers
Your team may not have had to clean up elephant pee, but I’m sure their past few weeks have been challenging. It is important to slow your roll and take some time to thank everyone for the hard work they put in during this season. Don’t just send a general email, name people by name. Better yet, write a personal note or go to each person and thank them for their contribution.
2. Celebrate the wins
Find anything that was a win over Easter and celebrate like crazy. I learned this while working for Rick Warren. After one Easter a campus pastor was disappointed because his campus missed their goal for attendance. Rick said, “Don’t worry about the people who didn’t come, celebrate the people who did! You set a big goal and stretched further than you would have without the goal. That’s a win!”
3. Tell the stories
Hopefully you had photographers and story gatherers at your Easter services, but even if you didn’t find a way to tell the stories. Share stories as a team and share stories with the congregation. Nothing helps people get the “why” behind the “what” like a good story.
4. Follow up with the new guests
As soon as possible follow up with new guests. The key to effective follow up is to move beyond just advertising what the church has to offer and asking them to come back. Find a way to discover the guest’s needs and feedback. Invest in ways you can truly serve the new people God has brought to your front step. Feed the 5000.
5. Take a breath
Everyone needs a rest, especially the leaders. Give staff an extra day off this week. Take some time to completely disconnect from the church for 24 hours. Have some fun, blow off some steam and recharge your batteries. You’re going to need all the energy you can build.
6. Sprint to Mother’s Day
You have six weeks until Mother’s Day. Two weeks after Mother’s Day is Memorial Day and then no one will think about church until the fall. As a church you’ve just had one of the biggest days of the years, now your in the back stretch. Sprint through the finish line giving every weekend everything you have. Now is the time to schedule a guest speaker for the two weekends after Mother’s Day so you can put all your energy into the series that starts next weekend. Encourage your team that the next six weeks are a sprint, but everyone will get some rest after Mother’s Day. And follow through on your promise.
And skip the elephant next Easter.
(Email me at geoff@ministrytogether.com if you’d like to chat about how we can help you with strategy and leadership)
