Afterglow: The After Easter Reflection

Ever since our first Easter Service in 2008 I have spent the following Monday reflecting on the weekend's festivities. This is the main reason why I decided to always work on Monday instead of taking it off as a sabbath day. Just in case you're wondering, I take Saturday off.

Our Easter Egg Hunt went really well. We had tons of people come out and join us. There were people everywhere. I also took the opportunity to do a community survey. My survey was a way to find out how our church can be more effective in helping the community. I got an amazing response. 33% of the adults present filled out the survey. 55% of those surveyed don't attend a church or are looking for a church. This was great for someone looking to reach people who don't currently attend a church.

Our Easter service went well too. We tried something a little different. We had the bulk of our music at the end of the message. I know some pastors who already do this but we don't. This was huge for us because we don't want to be tied to one way of doing our services. If the Holy Spirit says music at the end then we want to be obedient to His prompting.

Here's where the afterglow really kicks in. I went to Wal-Mart after the service to buy food for our Easter dinner with friends. I saw tons of people in Wal-Mart. There were people everywhere. I wondered out loud, "How many of these people attended an Easter service that morning?"

I know you can't tell if they went to service by their dress but I didn't see very many people dressed up. I think there were way too many people in Wal-Mart for them to have gone to an Easter service that morning. So then I wondered if people really go to church just because its Easter Sunday. As an unchurched person, I never thought twice about going to church just because its Easter. I wonder if church leaders are operating out of a false assumption that people will come to their church just because its Easter. I know I didn't! I guess now I need to come up with a survey that will capture this data next. I think that people are more likely to come to church on Easter when invited by a friend. However, just showing up because its Easter, I'm not too sure about that anymore.

What do you think about my reflection? Where did you go after your Easter service? Did you think a lot of the people attended a service that morning? Do you think unchurched people really come to church just because its Easter?