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Yesterday was Easter Sunday! Easter is the day where Christians all over the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We believe that Jesus died on the cross on the day we call "Good" Friday and three days later He rose from the grave on Easter Sunday morning. Easter is of the lynch pin of our faith. Without Easter, there is no Christianity!
Churches were filled with congregants and visitors coming to worship and praise God on Easter Sunday. For those of us on church staffs Easter is one of the biggest days on the calendar. We plan for weeks, months, and even an entire year to make Easter a great experience.
But this year, I felt challenged. While browsing through social media post from other churches I noticed a trend. For many newer churches Easter takes on a life of its own. Activities for children are designed to be massive on Saturday and the "weekend" worship experience is expanded to accommodate larger than normal crowds. Saturday evening services and Sunday afternoon encounters create more opportunities to worship on this most Holy occasion.
I began to wonder if I, an ordained minister and the leader of ministry operations for New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore had the right approach to Easter. I understand the significance to the day and have no doubt about its importance to the faith, but do I treat it as the biggest day from a ministry planning position? This year we began new things to enhance the experience and it helped our worshippers connect to Easter on a new level. We changed up our approach and saw God bless it in a major way.
But now, I sit, 383 days away from Easter 2019 with a clear understanding of my task. Easter cannot be another "big" day on the calendar. It must be THE BIG DAY. I must begin planning now so that I can shift to positioning with enough time to make things happen.
I challenge other ministry leaders and pastors to begin thinking about Easter 2019 now. Do not wait until after the conference or revival is over to begin. And whatever you do DO NOT WAIT UNTIL JANUARY 2019 TO BEGIN! While the joy and excitement from this Easter is still fresh, start jotting down thoughts and ideas, bring in your ministry teams to brainstorm and evaluate this past year, tap into some of your young adults and millennials for suggestions, and get started now. There are only 383 days left...
