19 Easter Service Ideas to Bring Life to Your Church

Your church has the opportunity to reach more people on Easter weekend than any other point in the year, so it’s time to get ready with some fresh Easter service ideas.

Using a combination of digital marketing and traditional outreach methods gives churches the opportunity to spread the gospel, and bring people into a life-giving church family on Easter Sunday.

As you prepare for Easter, remember this is more than just another Sunday. Use these 19 ideas to make your Easter services memorable, and make it easy to invite!

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

What is it About Easter?

According to Pew Research, more Americans do a Google search for “church” at Easter than any other time of year.

Easter Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ–it’s the gospel message of hope!

Also, since people are searching online for history behind the Easter story, and information on church services, a strong digital presence is essential for churches.

So it’s time to brainstorm some creative ideas to make Easter Sunday memorable!

19 Fresh Ideas for Easter to Make Your Church Service Great

1. Fresh Easter Branding

Having an Easter logo, theme, or fresh branding can help attract attention. Remember that if you don’t have a designated graphic designer on staff, plenty of free and premium resources for church graphics are available.

You can utilize your Easter branding in:

• Marketing materials
• Landing page
• Stage design
• Service elements
• Church motion graphics
• Lobby/building experience

Easter can be an ideal time to launch a new brand for your church or refresh an existing one.  Or, the branding could be related to your sermon series content. The branding could be tied into an extended sermon series either leading up to or following Easter. This helps you build more long-lasting momentum around the Easter weekend.

2. Set Up an Easter Landing Page

A landing page is a single page on your website dedicated to a specific purpose. In this case: Easter! An Easter landing page keeps your information organized. It gives your members an easy place to go for service info and send people they’re inviting.

Before the big weekend, the Easter landing page can help you increase engagement and gather leads, allowing you to grow your community and find out more about who is coming to church. You can also store resources and follow up information on the landing page, such as

• Sermon notes
• YouTube videos
• Devotionals or resources
• Next steps for connecting to the church
• Upcoming events

Also, optimize this page for local SEO, using keyword phrases that incorporate your city and location. Think about appealing to people who will be searching for terms like “Easter services near me” or “Easter church services in ____(insert your city).”

And make your Easter experience and service times prominent on your church calendar!

3. Create an Easter Hashtag

Create a hashtag for Easter at your church and use it in your marketing materials and church’s social media pages. Ask people to share what they’re doing on Easter with the custom hashtag.

Hashtags are a fun way to get everyone in your church involved. You can also gather all your hashtagged posts to one place, like Pinterest or Instagram, for an easy way of tracking what’s happening at church. Remember to keep it simple to avoid typos, and clear so people understand what it means.

4. Easy Easter Service Ideas for Invitations

Make it easy for your members to invite people to church on Easter. In the weeks leading up to Easter, you can encourage members to grab posters, flyers, and invite cards to hand out. Don’t forget to include the landing page URL and hashtag in all your print and digital advertising.

Another idea is to supply digital resources to your members, like graphic invites. Give simple scripts for in-person, email, or text invites that members can copy and paste. You can also share Easter invite social media graphics that people can post on their favorite platforms and tag their friends.

5. Distribute Neighborhood Invites

Empower your church members to invite their neighbors! You can create marketing materials for them to post and hand out. Some ideas for spreading the word about your church service include:

• Easter door hangers
• Yard signs
• Posters for bulletin boards and common areas
• Easter baskets with little goodies and an invitation card

These are just a few examples of how to get the word out and warmly invite new guests to church.

6. Community Outreach

This is a good time of year to think about your community helpers, first responders, teachers, and neighborhood organizations.

Handing out Easter baskets, lilies, or baked goods are all a nice gesture. Or, you can sponsor a breakfast to show appreciation. Teachers, medical professionals, first responders, and a local charity or business are all perfect candidates for an Easter gift.

Although the point of this is to simply serve and express thanks, you should also include information about your service times. People in your surrounding community are waiting for an invitation!

7. Easter Service Project

What about a service project tied to the Easter season? This can be beneficial in many ways, and represents the spirit of loving sacrifice we seek to live out. Everyone loves egg hunts, and perhaps you can provide one somewhere in your community where there is a need or lack of resources. You could partner with a local school or nonprofit for an Easter event, picnic, or another service outreach opportunity.

8. Easter Egg Hunt

Speaking of egg hunts, we’re all familiar with this tradition, but could you brainstorm creative Easter egg hunt ideas to put a unique twist on the event?

In addition to a mad scramble for candy, eggs can be part of various games, scavenger hunts, and contain special high-value prizes.

Timing of your Easter egg hunt can also be strategic. Hosting an egg hunt in the community, or partnering with a community event, prior to Easter provides a good opportunity to invite to Easter services.

Having an egg hunt on Easter weekend itself can also be a draw for families with kids to attend service.

In addition to candy and small toys, creative ideas for your Easter egg hunt can include:

• lawn games
• obstacle courses
• sidewalk chalk drawing competition
• food trucks
• petting zoos
• and other Easter-themed activities

9. Digital Advertising

Digital marketing and online advertising are a must in today’s world! People are constantly on their phones, and this is a primary way for people to communicate.

While traditional advertising methods like mailers, radio, and billboards can still be effective, they can also be expensive.

Digital advertising is a great way to expand your reach cost-effectively. Easter ideas for marketing could include google ads, social media ads, or digital banners in local email newsletters or websites. Read more about different types of social media and digital advertising here.

10. Preparing Hearts and Minds

Many rich traditions are connected to resurrection Sunday. Some denominations (and nondenominational churches) emphasize the preparation time leading up to Easter. People aren’t just looking for a flashy service. They also want to learn, develop, and experience personal spiritual growth. Easter ideas for your church to prepare spiritually in the weeks leading up to the holiday include:

• A special prayer calendar
• A Lenten or Easter devotional
• Some form of fasting
• A focus on Holy Week and events that took place leading up to Easter Sunday

You can house these resources on your Easter landing page, and distribute them in social media content.

11. Special Service Times

Easter is a great opportunity to add additional services to your regular schedule to expand on the Easter story. Easter ideas for church service times include a mid-week service, an evening service on Good Friday or Saturday, or an Easter sunrise service.

Although an Easter sunrise service is often held outdoors, you could also hold one inside if weather is an issue, or it’s more convenient.

12. Welcome Experience

First impressions are everything! Make it a great guest experience for those attending church services by asking the following:

• What do people experience from the moment they drive onto your church parking lot?
• Can they clearly navigate where to park and how to enter the building?
• Is there a greeter or welcome station where people can get information?

The church environment and experience should be consistent with your marketing and branding. For example, put your Easter logo on your signage. Or ave your volunteers can wear t shirts with the Easter message.

Above, remember the most important factor is a friendly smile and connection. Make sure you have plenty of volunteers available to make Easter service memorable.

13. Children’s Ministry Easter Ideas

Your children’s ministry is absolutely vital for your Easter celebration. Safety is parents’ number one priority. With big crowds on Easter Sunday, make sure you have plenty of kid’s ministry volunteers.

Adjust your check-in and check-out logistics to accommodate more families if necessary.

The kids, on the other hand, are looking for a fun factor. Get them excited in the weeks leading up to Easter Sunday and encourage them to invite their friends. Some Easter service ideas for children’s ministry include:

• Decorations
• Interactive plays sharing the message of Easter
• Outdoor activities such as a bounce house
• Special musical guests
• Dressed up characters for entertaining and picture taking
• Easter-themed games or treats

14. Easter Service Elements

When it comes to your church’s Easter worship service, remember that you’ll probably have people who have never attended church (or haven’t come since Christmas).

So how can you include elements that make the timeless message of Easter come alive for a contemporary audience?

Consider how you can combine foundational truth and beloved traditions with modern methods and creative elements. For example:

• Musical guests or special musical features
• Worship songs that exemplify the resurrection message
• Special stage design
• A short skit
• Spoken word
• Baptism or communion
• Live or video-based creative storytelling elements
• Custom graphics and video clips throughout the service

15. Live Stream Your Easter Service

Remember that there are people who can’t be at your Easter service for one reason or another. For example, they may be out of town, have a medical condition that prohibits attendance, or have other reasons for needing to watch from home.

Live streaming church services is here to stay. In today’s world, people expect you to provide an online church option. Make sure to consider both online and in-room audiences as you prepare service elements.

16. Photo Opportunities

When everyone dresses up in their Easter best, it makes for the perfect photo booth opportunity. We know a church family photo booth is nothing new. But people continue to take advantage of Easter photo booths year after year!

After all, people (especially moms) love capturing themed family photos on special occasions. And you can have a professional photographer ready to snap photos of everyone in their Easter best.

Subtly incorporate your church branding or name into the photo booth setup, and encourage people to use the hashtags you came up with as part of your Easter ideas. Then, when people post their photos online (as they’re sure to do), it will help spread the word about your church.

Another approach is to invite photographers and families to take photos at your church in the weeks before and after Easter. You can use an outdoor setting, mural, or photo display or open the doors during certain times to use an indoor display.

Search Pinterest or Instagram for creative Easter ideas for photo backdrops.

17. Water Baptisms

Easter is the perfect time for water baptism. Baptism is a symbol of resurrection and new life, which is the Easter message. People have the opportunity to invite their friends and family not only to a special service, but also to a significant milestone in their faith journey.

18. Giveaways and Goodies

Every great celebration includes treats and gifts. Also, providing a giveaway after service gives people a reason to linger and connect with others.

While food, coffee, sweet tea, and dessert are always popular, you could also consider handing out a physical gift people can take home like t shirts, mugs, or notebooks.

Or, you could also give out a card that can be scanned for a digital resource or download.

19. Follow Up

The ultimate goal is not to set attendance records on Easter Sunday. Rather, it’s to see people commit their lives to Jesus and follow Him every day. So be sure to plan a follow-up for people who make this commitment for the first time or would like to connect more with your church.

Be sure to use a church visitor card to gather contact info for follow-up. After Easter, send an email with resources to help them in their faith journey. These could include:

• A replay of the service
• Links to videos or articles
• Invitation to a small group or connection class
• Info about upcoming events and gatherings

What Easter Ideas Do You Have to Share?

Easter is a time of year when pastors and churches can reach out to their communities in unique and meaningful ways.

By using some of these Easter service ideas for marketing and service flow, you can create an inviting atmosphere and make it easy to follow up with new members. Don’t be afraid to pull out all the stops for this big day and create an Easter experience people won’t forget!

What have you done in the past to create unforgettable Easter services? Comment below and let us know!

Don’t forget to check out our post on Easter sermon ideas!

More on Holiday Service Ideas

• How to Guarantee Easter Visitors Get Connected
• How To Get Church Visitors To Return After Easter
• 15 Affordable & Innovative Ways to Invite People to Church
• Everything You Need To Know About Church Landing Pages
• 8 Ways to Promote Your Christmas Eve Service

About The Author