As we approach Holy Week and Easter, I will be sharing one idea each week for church communications.
This week’s idea: Make a special invitation to Holy Week and Easter activities.
Is your church hosting a Maundy Thursday potluck and communion service? A Good Friday Service? An Easter Egg hunt? Easter Sunday service?
Now is a great time to share the invitation.
A few possibilities:
- If you have a church website or social media page, share the information about these services. Keep it simple – the time, the date, a brief description (Ex. “A joyful worship service from 10 – 11 am on Easter Sunday, followed by a chocolate egg hunt for kids, coffee and tea for the grownups, and hot crossed buns for everyone. We would love for you to be part of it! This is an Affirming Church.”)
- Consider creating a poster. (Bonus: Did you know that Canva premium is free for nonprofits? This is a simple online way to make posters using some really nice pre-made templates.) Put the poster up in your building, on the door, and wherever in your community people read posters. If you are posting it outside, buy a few of those plastic sheet protectors to keep it from the rain. Share the poster on social media if you have a social media account.
- Give your congregation the tools they need to invite someone to church at Easter. The Growth Department created some wonderful resources to help you do just that! You can read this United Church blog post and there are some simple and helpful ideas at this link (scroll down to the “Plan to Strengthen Invitation This Easter.”) The resources are well adapted to United Churches.
This isn’t about having the flashiest and fanciest ideas in church communications. It is not about growing your church by 100 new people in one weekend. It’s about inviting people to come and hear the Good News of Easter. It’s about warmly welcoming those who decide to visit your church, even if it is only one new person. This is one way that we share God’s love.
-Natalie Matkovsky
Up Next Week: Google Reviews!
Ideas to share? Please contact Natalie Matkovsky (NMatkovsky@united-church.ca)
