Every year the church is given fifty-two Sundays. God is always speaking and moving in people’s lives, and we aim to create opportunities during Sunday services for people to pause long enough to listen and hear the Lord’s voice.
We should never put our services on autopilot—each one is incredibly important. But there are five particular services that are especially critical and call for an extra measure of planning and emphasis. Your leadership team should anticipate these crucial services and build a strategy to capitalize on them.
Crucial service #1: Easter
Why it’s important:
Most Protestant pastors list Easter as the service with the highest attendance. It pulls in a lot of people who struggle with regular attendance as well as people who might never have visited any other service.
What makes it even more crucial is that this service spotlights the gospel. Most Easter messages are going to focus on Jesus’s death and resurrection—and the new life available to us who choose to receive it. The fact that this is such a highly attended service with a laser-like gospel focus makes it worthy of special attention.
How to prepare:
You have a real opportunity to reach unchurched people, so make sure you get the word out. Create invitations that church members can hand out to their family and friends, and invest in ads where people can see them weeks in advance. This includes:
- Facebook ads
- Flyers in local public places
- Church signage
- Local radio
Go through and make sure all of your church signage is up to date. You want to ensure you’re communicating clearly so people who are new to your space are able to navigate it easily. This means that there should be no ambiguity in the parking lot, annex, and children’s check-in areas. Everything should be presented clearly and obviously.
Crucial service #2: Mother’s Day
Why it’s important:
For many families, attending a Mother’s Day church service is a tradition and one way they celebrate the day. While this might not be a service you associate with completely unchurched people, it’s an important service for reaching people with a church background but no regular church home.
How to prepare:
Be sure to gather vital information so you can contact people again. If you’re not using contact cards, consider it. Make it as easy as possible for people to give you their information. All you really need to capture is their name and an email address.
Crucial service #3: Christmas Eve
Why it’s important:
Christmas is the cultural holiday for attending church. For many people, it doesn’t feel like Christmas if they don’t attend a Christmas Eve service. This is a service that visitors will attend even if they have zero connection to anyone at the church.
How to prepare:
It’s appropriate to cater to the reason people are there—don’t scrub your service of the traditional elements that make people feel like they’re at a Christmas service, such as carols and candlelight. Also make sure you’re giving them a good reason to come back in January. Have a culturally relevant sermon series set up for the new year, give a brief pitch for it, and hand out invitations with the bulletin.
Crucial service(s) #4: Baptisms and Baby Dedications
Why it’s important:
There are very few church celebrations more joyous than a new baptism or a baby dedication. These public declarations of commitment to follow the Lord personally or raise children to honor Him create moments of shared rejoicing among the body of the church. And these services are usually well attended by supportive family members.
How to prepare:
Because there’s such an obvious connection, make sure to share the gospel message of rebirth and reconciliation. These services also provide an opportunity to communicate the importance of a church family in the life of a Christian and how vital it is to commit to a community of faith. Emphasize to visitors that they are welcome to come back next week, and make yourself available after the service to answer any questions that curious friends and family may have.
Crucial service #5: September Kick-Off
Why it’s important:
Most churches have lower or inconsistent attendance through the summer. Once September rolls around, it’s important to reset the vision and get everyone back on course with an intentional kick-off service.
How to prepare:
Make sure that you and the leadership team have identified goals for the coming year. This service should include clearly communicating those goals and the plans in place to get there. If you need people to volunteer for programs and positions, this is the time to encourage them to get on board.
If you have new classes, small groups, or Bible studies starting up, ensure that everyone knows what they can expect from those offerings. You could have people do mini-announcements (or even video commercials!) for their classes or ministries during the service. And you should certainly include a write-up for each class in the bulletin or on the website.
Stewarding opportunities for God’s Church.
These five Sundays are key occasions to connect with people who need to know the Lord, and how you capitalize on them will be unique to you. Work with your team to create a plan to make the most of these services, and think through other services that might also be important in the life of your church.
Let’s journey together.
You don’t need to do ministry alone. You can find opportunities to connect, plus more content and conversations about church administration, at XP Summit: xpsummit.org.
