By: Waylon Bailey

We–the church–have a wonderful opportunity this Easter to make our worship a blessed time for us and for our guests.

Remember that many people come to church at Easter who do not worship at other times of the year.

What can you and I do make this a better time?

First, participate in worship. Don’t spectate–participate. This is the most important thing you can do to help make Easter better and to encourage people to come back the week after Easter.

Put yourself into worship. Show up on time, sing, follow in the Scripture, be engaged in all aspects of worship. All of these elements of worship matter to God.

Second, look for new people and welcome them warmly, that is with a smile. Be helpful in letting them know where things are. Be ready to give good “customer service.” In church good “customer service” means treating people the way you want to be treated.

Last week, we had a family attending from out of town. They didn’t attend with friends or relatives. They didn’t know anyone here. After the service they came by the Hospitality Room to tell me about their experience. People in the congregation recognized they were new and welcomed them warmly. They were amazed and gratified–and I was proud of you!

Third, make it easy for the newcomers or causal attenders. You can do two things to help with this. Actually, these would be good every Sunday. (1) Move as far to the front and as close to the middle of your row as you can stand. (Some of us have a harder time doing this than others).

(2) Park in the worst place you can find. When my grandsons ride with me after church, they want to know, “Why do you park way out here?” They, of course, are into the “you’re the pastor of the church, you can park anywhere you want” viewpoint. I explain that I park far away because I want to make it easy for other people to come to church.

We all could and should be servant leaders. These are a few simple things to do to make Easter better.