Discover how to prepare your church for Easter with strategic communication, not just activity. Leah Norton from Fishhook shares how to reach new people authentically, avoid overproduction, and create meaningful connections that last beyond Easter Sunday.

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Key Points In Brief

• Listen First, Plan Second: Start Easter planning by listening to God, your congregation, and your community—not by jumping to your to-do list
• Authenticity Over Production: People are looking for what’s real and genuine, not elaborate Easter productions that don’t reflect your church’s normal culture
• Value-Based Messaging: Lead with what people need (peace, hope, community) before inviting them to events
• Consistency Is Key: Use the same messaging across all platforms—social media, website, stage, and conversations
• Think Beyond Sunday: Plan next steps to connect with Easter visitors in the weeks and months following
• Celebrate the Process: Measure success not just by attendance, but by team health, community engagement, and ongoing connections

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Key Takeaways

1. Pause Before You Plan

The enemy wants to drive you straight to your to-do list. Instead, pause to pray and ask intentional questions about your mission, your audience, and the message God wants you to bring this Easter season.

2. Know Your Specific Audience

Don’t try to reach “everybody.” Identify the specific demographic God is calling you to reach (curious college students, stressed families, etc.) and build your message around what they value and need.

3. Empathy-Driven Communication

Spend time understanding what your community is facing and feeling. Communications that show empathy demonstrate the love of Christ and create genuine connections.

4. The Dinner Party Principle

Like serving 20-year-olds on your grandmother’s china, over-producing Easter can make visitors uncomfortable. Meet people where they’re at—casual, approachable, and authentic beats elaborate productions.

5. Four-Phase Process: Listen, Plan, Create, Celebrate

• Listen: To God, each other, and your community’s needs
• Plan: Ask intentional questions about mission, audience, message, and goals
• Create: Develop consistent value-based messaging and visuals for all platforms
• Celebrate: Define success upfront (not just attendance) and celebrate wins along the way

6. Clarity Is Kindness

Anticipate visitor questions before they arrive: Where do I park? What door do I use? What about my kids? What should I wear? Answer these clearly on your website and communications.

7. Less Is More—With Intentionality

Doing less with your whole heart is better than doing more and being worn out. Fewer tactics executed with great intentionality will be more effective than an overwhelming production.

8. The Easter Journey, Not Just Easter Sunday

Plant seeds for ongoing connection. The goal isn’t just getting people to show up on Easter—it’s inviting them into a journey of faith that continues in the weeks and months ahead.

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Notable Quotes

“The enemy wants to just take us to our to-do list. Let’s pause. Let’s literally like let’s take a step back. Let’s pray. Let’s ask some really intentional questions.” — Leah Norton

“People are asking what is real? What is genuine? What is authentic? I’ve been asking that a lot lately myself.” — Leah Norton

“They’re asking who or what can I trust? I think more than Easter, we want Easter Sunday to be joyful and special, but I would really encourage every church to be as authentic as they can be that day.” — Leah Norton

“Clarity is kindness. You want to communicate with clarity. Answer those questions before they’ve even really asked them before they come.” — Joseph Bennett

“I would rather our ministry folks do less but with their whole heart than do more and just be so worn out.” — Leah Norton

“If you ask most churches who are you trying to reach, the answer is everybody. So I always follow that up with, well, how you doing? Because it’s not possible to reach everybody at one specific church.” — Dale Sellers

“Rest in the Lord first and foremost. He’s leading your church or your ministry. Rest in the Lord. Be with him first and then find others to do ministry with.” — Leah Norton

“The Lone Ranger had Tonto. So, the Lone Ranger wasn’t even alone.” — Dale Sellers

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Next Steps for Church Leaders

Immediate Actions (This Week)

1. Pause and Pray: Before diving into Easter planning, schedule time to pray and listen to what God has for your church this season
2. Download Resources: Visit fishhook.us/learn for free Easter planning resources, including the Timeline for Easter Planning and Promotion
3. Define Your Audience: Identify the specific demographic your church is called to reach (not “everybody”)
4. Ask the Planning Questions: Work through Fish Hook’s planning questions about mission, audience, and message

Strategic Planning (Next 2-3 Weeks)

1. Define Success Upfront: Gather key leaders to answer “What will success look like?” Pick 2-3 measurable goals (not just attendance)
2. Develop Value-Based Messaging: Identify the one thing you want to bring people this Easter (peace, hope, community, answers) and build consistent language around it
3. Get Community Feedback: Ask people in your target demographic what would make Easter meaningful and welcoming for them
4. Plan for Authenticity: Review your Easter plans and remove anything that doesn’t reflect your church’s normal culture

Tactical Execution (3-6 Weeks Out)

1. Create Consistent Visuals: Use tools like Canva to create professional, consistent visuals for all Easter communications
2. Update Your Website: Create a clear Easter landing page or homepage section answering: What to expect, kids’ programs, parking, what to wear, service times
3. Mobilize Your Congregation: Share value-based messaging with staff, leaders, and volunteers so everyone uses consistent language
4. Plan Next Steps: Identify 2-3 ways to connect with Easter visitors in the weeks following (coffee meetups, sermon series invitations, small group opportunities)

Post-Easter Follow-Up

1. Celebrate Wins: Share stories of connections made, not just attendance numbers
2. Evaluate Honestly: Review your upfront success metrics with key leaders
3. Connect with Visitors: Follow up personally with Easter guests
4. Apply Learnings: Document what worked and what didn’t for next year’s planning

 

Link To Podcast Audio: 95Podcast 328

 

Link To Podcast YouTube:

Q & A Transcript

Q: What’s the difference between activity and strategy when preparing for Easter?

Leah Norton: The enemy wants to take us straight to our to-do list—all the things we need to get done like sermons, worship services, hospitality, kids programming. But we encourage churches to pause, pray, and ask intentional questions first. Think about your mission, who you’re called to connect with, and what message they need. That audience piece is really important—are you reaching curious college students, stressed families, or another group? Once you know who and what message God wants you to bring, then you can move to the activity with intention and meaning.

Q: How important is knowing your specific demographic?

Dale Sellers: When I ask churches who they’re trying to reach, most say “everybody.” I always follow up with, “How’s that going?” It’s not possible to reach everybody at one specific church—that’s why we have so many churches. You’ve got to be honed in on a demographic or group of people, then build the message around that. An easy way to do it is just ask people in that demographic what they value. Don’t spend time talking about what we’re mad about that they’re not doing—find out what they’re actually doing and what matters to them.

Q: How does language and communication show the love of Christ?

Joseph Bennett: When we communicate in a way that connects with people, we’re showing them the love of Christ. We’re caring for them. It’s about using language that meets people where they are, not church language that might be confusing to outsiders.

Leah Norton: We talk a lot about value-based messaging. It’s so easy to jump to “I have a service to promote” or “I have an event to get the word out about.” But we want to serve our audiences and community way before we invite them to something. Start with messaging about peace in an unpaceful world, hope, community, or a safe place to ask big questions about faith. People need to be seen first because they may be really struggling. We want to bring that to them with encouraging and caring words.

Q: What’s the danger of over-producing Easter Sunday?

Dale Sellers: One mistake I made as a pastor was turning Easter into this massive event. If you came to our church for Easter and came back the next week, you’d think you came to the wrong place. We had crosses on the stage, drama, tons of music—it was way too much and too long. We knew it didn’t connect, and we knew all that stuff would be gone the next week. We got bent out of shape because we knew we’d have all these people, so we wanted to put on our best look. But then next week we forgot to brush our teeth, so to speak. We over-performed and tried to be something we weren’t.

Leah Norton: Here’s an analogy: If I’m having a dinner party and invite my college-age daughter and her friends, they probably won’t feel comfortable if I serve fancy food on my grandmother’s china. They’re 20 years old, wearing hoodies—they want something casual. That’s what would make them feel comfortable and what they’d be able to interact with more easily. My heart might have been to bring my best, but they’re not ready to engage with that. In this day and age, people are asking “What is real? What is genuine? What can I trust?” They’re looking for what is authentic and approachable. I think less is more, and God knows our hearts. If our hearts are to bring Him glory and to love others and share the gospel message, we don’t have to have all the fanfare.

Q: Why does listening come first in Fishhook’s four-phase process?

Leah Norton: Listening to the Lord is first—what does He have for your church in this season? What value, what message does He want you to bring? But also listening to each other within the congregation and listening to folks in your community. What do they need? What are they open to? Not that we want to water down the gospel message, but we want to be tuned in to their needs and what they’d be open to so we can meet them where they’re at and make wonderful connections. Our smaller and midsize churches have an advantage here—a few people listening to each other and connecting with the community means you’re ready to connect with visitors on Sunday morning. In a larger church, new folks can get lost easily. In a smaller context, being out there with coffee and a donut, being genuine in connecting with people—that listening piece and then being ready to connect is really powerful.

Q: What does “clarity is kindness” mean for Easter planning?

Joseph Bennett: People are coming with questions. We as church leaders need to communicate with clarity and answer those questions before they’ve even really asked them. What do I do with my kids? Where do I park? What door do I come in? Anticipate their needs. Where are things located? When you answer these questions clearly on your website and in your communications, you’re showing kindness to visitors.

Leah Norton: On your website, have either clear Easter information from your homepage or maybe a separate landing page so people can see at a glance what you’re offering—maybe a Lenten series, Easter events, an egg hunt, prayer time, Good Friday service. And help them know what to expect on Easter Sunday: Are kids invited? What should they wear? Where can they park? Help people understand what to expect as they visit.

Q: How should churches define and celebrate success?

Leah Norton: Ask “What will success look like?” on the front end of your Easter planning. Involve several leaders in that conversation. Sometimes we either don’t pick anything or the list is 10-12 items long and overwhelming. Pick just a couple of goals. It’s not just about attendance—maybe it’s about how you’re communicating the whole Lenten season, or how you’re getting volunteers and congregation to work together making invitations. Maybe there’s a goal for staff (like having joy and rest at key moments), a goal for congregation participation in reaching the community, and a goal for community engagement and next steps. Celebrating can go on for weeks and months after Easter as you see connections made and hear stories of how God’s at work.

Dale Sellers: Get feedback from the very people or demographic you’re trying to reach. If you’re trying to reach young families, get a couple young families and ask them what success would look like. The average age of a pastor in America is 63, and over my lifetime, somewhere between 85-95% of people who become Christians do it before they’re 20. We need feedback from teenagers and perceptive older children on what would make it successful to them.

Q: What encouragement do you have for overwhelmed church leaders?

Leah Norton: This is how I try to live: Rest in the Lord first and foremost. He’s leading your church or your ministry. Rest in the Lord. Be with Him first, and then find others to do ministry with—other staff members, leaders, volunteers, a close friend, a mentor, an adviser, a counselor. Surround yourself with a few people you can trust and who will help you. There are times where we all feel stuck, discouraged, weary, or don’t know what to do. To lead with others, to have encouragement and support, is just vital.

Dale Sellers: We modeled that here at 95 Network. If you’re listening and thinking “I don’t know where to go,” reach out to us. Reach out to Fish Hook, reach out to Leah. We just had a pastor in Indiana reach out who launched a church plant in his first year and said “I don’t have anybody.” We don’t want you to be that way. You’ve got to get in community. We will help you get the community you need. You weren’t called to do it alone. Just remember: the Lone Ranger had Tonto. So the Lone Ranger wasn’t even alone.