How to Plan an Easter Service

How to Plan an Easter Service Creativity in Worship Planning With Christmas a distant memory, worship leaders now turn their attention to Resurrection Sunday – the Super Bowl of all Sundays! Easter Sunday, like every Sunday, is filled with potential and opportunity. How does a worship planner realize every bit of potential and opportunity an Easter Sunday holds? First, begin in prayer. Ask the Lord, “How do you want our church to worship you today?” Seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance, inspiration, creativity, and blessing in the planning process. Next, conceive of Easter Sunday as a climactic conclusion to a three-part series: Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday. These three moments are wonderful opportunities to meld Gospel-centricism with biblically faithful creativity. Adding biblically faithful creativity does not have to be difficult or complicated. A creative element is simply anything that is not commonly found in a regular worship service OR a creative approach to something that is commonly found in a regular worship service. Whether you’re just beginning your journey or have decades of experience, Southwestern Seminary will equip you to live your calling. Southwestern Seminary’s School of Church Music and Worship offers more than ten unique degrees, all designed to provide theological and practical foundations for any worship leader role. LEARN MORE It is important to note that creativity for creativity’s sake is not the appropriate goal. As worship leaders, our job is to lead people, not just lead songs. And people often enter our houses of worship with their minds distracted and their hearts burdened. We are all “prone to wander” (both our minds and our hearts). Biblically faithful creativity in worship can help to open the spiritual eyes of the worshipper to SEE the truth, beauty, goodness, and greatness of God and help focus the heart’s affection on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. Worship begins with SEEing (not singing), and creativity applied to worship planning can help the worshipper SEE God appropriately magnified in all of his splendor and fullness. Creativity can be expressed in simple ways, like varying the accompaniment. For example, consider this accompaniment roadmap of a four-verse song: the first verse accompanied by guitar alone, the second verse accompanied by piano and violin, the third verse accompanied by the entire band, and the fourth verse sung a cappella. Another example of creativity in worship planning would be to have representatives from three generations read a Scripture passage. This technique is a great way to involve senior saints, children, and teens in your worship leadership team. It’s even better if the three generations are from the same family! Palm Sunday and Good Friday I consider Palm Sunday and Good Friday essential times to “linger at the cross.” Only after understanding the weight of the cross, considering the gravity of our sin, and marveling at the holiness of God can we properly respond to the miracle of the resurrection and the joy of new life in Christ. Once we have thoughtfully considered Christ’s sinless life and substitutionary sacrificial death on the cross, we are now ready to appropriately celebrate the mystery and miracle of the resurrection. Because all Christian worship is response—to the revealed work and person of God—the worship planner’s job is to appropriately give voice to the congregational response to Christ’s resurrection. In my opinion, Resurrection Sunday is not a time to linger at the cross; instead, Easter is the time to enthusiastically celebrate Christ the victor, Christ’s victorious victory over sin, death, and the grave, and Christ’s actual, literal, bodily resurrection from the dead. So how do we do this on Easter Sunday, when the gathered church is larger than at any other point in the year? Easter Sunday is the day when worship leaders are most likely to be putting the words of worship and adoration into the mouths of five generations of believers at once. Therefore, worship leaders are wise to select songs that will represent every generation present. New Songs on Easter Sunday I encourage worship leaders to be especially careful and judicious in how new songs are used on Easter Sunday. A new song can be appropriate, but only if properly prepared. Let me explain. The year was 2017. The song, “O Praise the Name (Anastasis),” had made its way onto my radar for potential new songs to teach my congregation. This storytelling song reflects deeply on Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The final verse specifically focuses on the resurrection: Then on the third at break of dawn, The Son of heaven rose again. O trampled death, where is your sting? The angels roar for Christ the King! And our response: O praise the Name of the Lord our God. O praise His Name forevermore! For endless days we will sing Your praise, Oh Lord, oh Lord our God! In 2017, my congregation had never sung this song. I had a strong desire in my spirit to program this song for Easter, but I typically do not program new songs for my congregation on Easter Sunday. On Easter Sunday, more than any other Sunday, I want to ensure that my congregation sings both from their heads (in truth) and from their hearts (in spirit). It takes time for a song to move from the ears (hearing it for the first time), then to the head (mind), and then to the heart. For a song to be sung with the heart, the song must be “owned” by the worshipper. We even use the term “by heart” to indicate when a text, lyric, or formula can be delivered on demand without any assistance. A new song introduced to the congregation begins a journey from head to heart that takes time and repetition. So, I set out to help my congregation not only learn “O Praise the Name (Anastasis)” but also to own the song in their hearts. We introduced the song early in February. Then repeated it on two other occasions in February. Then, we sang it one or two more times in March. Then, in April, Easter Sunday finally arrived, and right before the message, the time came to sing “O Praise the Name (Anastasis).” It was a Sunday I will never forget. The congregation owned this new song of praise. It was theirs to offer whole-heartedly (not half-heartedly) to the Lord in response to the miracle of resurrection life. I thought the roof was going to come off the church. What a day! So let me encourage you, worship leaders and liturgical planners, think creatively as you plan worship. You are leading people, not just songs. Saturate your worship services with Scripture. Be creative in your approach. And plant new songs of worship that you would like to use for Easter in the hearts of your congregations several months before Easter. Then, fill your service with Scripture and songs that will appeal to older and younger generations – classic hymns like “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” modern hymns like “In Christ Alone,” songs that will bless your senior saints like “Because He Lives” and new expressions of praise like “O Praise the Name (Anastasis).”… properly prepared!