Outreach Church Communications and Marketing

Your Biggest Easter in Years: Why Reaching Out is Essential in 2022

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Your Biggest Easter in Years: Why Reaching Out is Essential in 2022

This week is the two year anniversary of the COVID-19 shut downs – not something anyone is planning to celebrate. The last two years have been tough on everyone in ministry but it’s looking like Easter 2022 could be a positive turning point if your church is prepared to step out in faith. Here is why and how you can make Easter 2022 the biggest in years.

Why This Easter Could Be Big:

1)  During the Pandemic, millions of church attenders stopped attending and so far many have not returned, even online.
2)  Omicron numbers are dropping and many people are now ready, even excited, to get out and be in public with other people.
3)  People who have struggled during COVID are looking for positive relationships and hope
4)  The news headlines are scary, even non-religious people are questioning how to make the world a better place.

How This Can Impact Your Church:

So what does all this mean for your church this Easter? Jesus is the hope of the world and Easter is the perfect time of year to celebrate and share the Gospel of the resurrection. Churches who reach out and invite both unchurched and absent Christians back to discover Jesus, will most likely see a bigger response than they have in years.

To make the most of this opportunity, develop a plan that includes all three areas of outreach: broad general invitations, invitations to your lapsed members and past visitors, and engaging your members in personal invitations to their friends and neighbors. Here are the best tools to implement a comprehensive plan that can still fit your budget:

  • Broad Invitations

The community around your church is filled with people who have never been to church or who have not attended in years. Use these methods to reach out and invite them to attend your Easter events. Be sure to use messages that are benefit-oriented to the reader.

1)  Direct Mail Postcards – A mailed invitation is the best way to reach thousands of homes in your community. The easy-to-read format, paired with an eye-catching design makes postcards stand out in the mail and with non-profit authorization from the postal service, postcards have the lowest postage rates available.
2)  Facebook Ads – Unlike a regular social post, a social media ad can reach people in the geographic areas around your church. Social ads are a great “add on” to a postcard mailing, ensuring your neighbors get both a physical invite and a digital one.
3)  Outdoor Banners – Promote your Easter services to passing traffic with a large outdoor banner on your building, on the street by building or at the location where you will be holding your Easter services. Be sure to have your website URL printed so viewers can look up the details.

Outdoor church Banners
  • Reach Out to Past Guests and Attendees

If you’re like most churches, you have a group of people who have disappeared during the last 24 months – they no longer come in person and you may or may not know if they are watching online. Some of these people may have left to try out another church in town, and others may just be out of the habit of coming on Sundays. You probably also have people in your church database who visited in the past and never returned. Easter is a great time to reach out to both of these groups and invite them back. Be sure your invite is not judgemental but instead has a “we miss you” tone.

1)  Email – By far the easiest way to reach out is through email, however, your correspondence can be easily lost in someone’s inbox so don’t be surprised if you don’t get a response.
2)  Personal Note – Send a short, hand-written card that lets each person know that they are missed and that you would love to see them at Easter services – be sure to provide service times and dates.
3)  Phone calls – A quick call that lets people know that you miss seeing them and are hoping that all is well can go a long way to re-establishing a relationship with lapsed members. If you use volunteers for these calls, be sure they are equipped to refer people to staff members if difficult topics come up during a call.
4)  Social Posts – Your church’s social media pages are a great way to connect with digital members. Keep your pages up-to-date and mix announcements with more compelling and inspiring posts. Implement a service like Outreach Digital to easily keep your pages fresh.

Engage Members with Personal Invitations

A personal invitation to church is still the most effective way to reach individuals and families in your community. Encourage your church members who are still coming regularly to be bold and step out to invite their neighbors, friends and coworkers to your Easter events. Provide easy-to-use tools that will help them feel empowered and engaged in the church-wide effort.

1)  Personal Invite Cards – These small invitations come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are easy to carry around. Have a large quantity on hand and provide each member with 5-10 that they can use during the Lenten season.

Church Door Hangers

2)  DoorHangers – Pick a day and send teams of people to the homes and apartments around your church, leaving these invitations on doors and praying for the neighborhood as they go. DoorHangers are also an easy tool to give members to share in their own neighborhoods. Read this article for more tips.
3)  Social sharing – As you post on your website and social media platforms, ask regular attendees to like your posts and share them with their own online friends. Set up a Facebook Event for your Easter services and encourage people to share it with other families.

With just a month to go until Easter, you need to act fast on these tips. If you need additional help, contact an Outreach Specialist who can walk you through the tools and timing for your church. Make sure you are doing everything you can to reach the most people with hope this Easter!

Carri Gambill

Carri Gambill

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