easter and christmas are historically the most attended weekends in the church. many people only go to church on these weekends.
something i woke up thinking was, what if, in addition to having the amazing services most of us have, we added something different to our focus?
we would have services…worship and celebrate together…but it doesn’t end there.
to “this is the weekend you need to be AT church” we add “this is the weekend we are all going out into the community and bringing the message of the gospel TO the community?”
why not start new traditions in addition to one that the church has had for centuries?
with the masses of people who typically come on these weekends, can you imagine the impact this could have on a community?
just a thought.
Comments
18 responses to “an unbalanced easter tradition?”
I would love to do that…and if i had a church i probably would scrap all of my Easter plans and do that.
It would be so powerful! An awesome way to communicate the love of Jesus on the day that he overcame death and saved us.
Hmmmm…its a good thought.
That’s an amazing idea!! Now you got me thinking… That’s dangerous.
i think that is a great idea! what better way can we show the love of Christ that practically loving our neighbors?
I see Easter as a time to be available for people that finally decide to visit “church” once a year or so. We usually don’t put on anything really special, other than maybe starting a new teaching series as a way to “hook” some new people. Obviously we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. I do like the idea of doing some creative things in the community instead of just holding services all the time but i probably wouldn’t do it on Easter for the reasons stated above.
I’m not sure I’m understanding what you’re proposing. I think you are talking about rather than “hosting” a grand easter event…go out into the community and present some type of event that would not only present the message of Jesus, but also serve the community? How about this as a suggestion: have a special, but abbrieviated service on Easter…focus on the resurection and present the Gospel. Then put together a series of outreach opportunities. For instance, deliverying meals to those who can’t get out or perhaps take everyone down to an inner city area to feed everyone and anyone who comes within a one mile radius. Or go and have an easter egg hunt just for the kids of a group home (the whole church could show up and love on 100 kids or so and blow them away with gifts and candy and hopefully build a connection with them.) Or break up into groups and hand out coupons for a free meal from a local resteraunt to those who have to work on Easter. Have the people split up and see if your church could fix a meal for every fire station in town on Easter Sunday…Yeah, I think we could do that.
key phrases above:
*in addition to services* (i understand the importance of them)
*after the service, it doesn’t end there* (taking people from the service into the community)
“in addition to services”—oh….eh…good idea! :)
in my classes this semester we are learning about what it means to be family AND what it means to teach adults AND what it means to live as a pastor….three very intensely practical courses. so one thing i’ve been thinking about is how to cross the boundaries we see in the community that are lived out best (not a good thing) in the church.
what if there were slips of paper with service projects on them to do that afternoon? people could draw a slip for their family and would be joined with other families who drew the same project. that way you have church members building fellowship with people the may not normally see AND you have them serving the community (which tends to build fellowship anyway). it seems like a win-win.
thoughts? or any great ideas for projects that would fit?
oh yeah, as for boundaries, i mean things like culture, generational gaps, ethnicities and economic standards. we often see these things lived out by the “church culture” in which we live. we have churches in rich parts of town that have every conceivable ministry..and then some. we have churches for specific ethnicities and cultures. and now, we have churches that cater to specific age groups such as college, young adult with kids, and senior citizens. just thought i’d clarify that.
It raises a couple of interesting questions:
1. What gospel?
2. Which community?
i like your thinkin’, jackson!
something like a LC-style micro mission? maybe there could be several available for people in the church community to join.
nice!
We are having a service Friday night and two Sunday morning. On Saturday, we are going out into our community as one of our “monthly” Love G-town events. We are going to be at Wal-Mart and another grocery store providing full service – taking carts to cars, unloading bags, and etc. No tipping will be allowed as this is only to show and share God’s love.
Anne – I think you’re spot on. While it is important to gather together – it is just as important to go out. After all – the church is not found inside a building.
We’re doing something different this year, partnering with another family, getting up at dawn and having our own service. I can’t wait.
i don’t know that the r.o.i. would be worth it to challenge everyone to follow us out into the community to (however creatively) share the gospel. somehow i doubt people will forfeit their plans. however, we always capture a remnant of people that continue to attend for a few months following easter. if we aggressively create opportunities to lead them into outreach opps and lifegroups, they could experience more permanent life-change.
i may be over thinking the concept, anne. your idea may be simpler than i’m imagining.
I suggested to our church that we do something different on a Sunday morning every now and then, like get out and serve our community instead of meeting in our building, and I was “put in my place” if you will. So, I can imagine what an uproar it would be trying to get them to do that on Easter. I still think it is a great idea.
If you want to see what happened, go to my blog, outatarch.blogspot.com, and check out the Jan. 1 entry.
Last Sunday, our congregation did this awesome thing. Rather than meeting for worship, they met to get their assignments. They went out into the city and did community projects for last Sunday’s worship service.
i like it! but, do you have to shave both legs?
Woah, woah, woah. Let’s not be hasty here. This is one of only TWO TIMES per year that our “if you build it, they will come” strategy ACTUALLY WORKS!!! Ok, I’ll give you that they don’t come back next week. And I’ll give you that over-all, our numbers have declined for the past 300 years.
But hey, none of that matters, because THIS is THE WEEK! (I even got my nice suit pressed. The one with the gold buttons.)
Just kidding. Yes, I think we should take Jesus to the rest of the world. Every week, not just Easter. But, it is a start.