6 Easter Worship Ideas to Increase Engagement

Spiritual Growth

Apr 2

In just a few weeks, millions of people around the world will gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. As believers, our loudest cheers and most enthusiastic expressions should be reserved for the greatest event in human history; the day Jesus rose from the dead, creating the remedy for human depravity. As you lead people in celebrating Christ’s resurrection this year, what if you tried a fresh idea to increase participation? Whether you already have your Easter services finalized or if you’re still in the middle of planning, here are 6 (low cost) accessible ideas for your Easter worship services this year:

1. SPONTANEOUS CHOIR

This one’s self-explanatory. Put some choir risers on stage (or not) and invite people at the beginning of the service to join you on stage to help lead people in worship by singing along. (The lyrics should be on the confidence monitor that they can clearly read while they’re on stage.) Not only does this “break down the 4th wall” and make the stage more representative of the congregation, but this will also increase the spiritual temperature in the room, releasing others to engage in worshipping the Lord. Side note: if you already have a choir planned for Easter, just invite others in the room to join as well! The more the merrier. 

2. A NEW WAY TO DO BAPTISMS

What if you did baptisms a bit different for Easter this year? After the first couple of songs have those being baptized come on stage (with their baptism t-shirts on of course) and have them share their testimonies by answering three simple questions: What was your life like before you knew Jesus? When was it that you gave your life to Jesus? How have you seen God working in your life since following Jesus? (I was…But God…. And now…). Then, have them go off stage while you sing the next song or two; a song like “Living Hope” (Hillsong) or “Graves Into Gardens” (Elevation). Then, during the climax of the song have the people walk in the baptism tank and baptize them one by one). Whether it’s two or seven people being baptized, there’s nothing like hearing the cheers of the congregation for those being baptized while simultaneously declaring the saving work of Jesus through song.  

3. VIDEO TESTIMONIES…IN THREES!

Here’s a different take on video testimonies. Instead of hearing one person’s testimony, have three people share their testimony but in three different frames on the screen (Brady bunch style) looking right into the camera. Record them individually but edit the video so each of them shares bits of their story 1-2 lines at a time, with all three stories progressing simultaneously. (While each person speaks, the other two look into the camera engaged.) See this example from Christ Church in Phoenix, AZ below. Not only is this a compelling way to celebrate multiple testimonies of people in your church, but this allows for three different kinds of testimonies, so everyone in the room can relate to one.

4. PARTIAL SONGS AND SONG MASHUPS

Give yourself permission to only do parts of songs instead of always doing the original arrangement. For instance, you could do the song “Praise” (Elevation) right into a couple of choruses of “I Thank God” (Maverick City), both in the same tempo. Or “What A Beautiful Name” (Hillsong) or “Lamb of God” (Vertical Worship) right into a couple of choruses of “O Praise the Name” (Hillsong). Or how about some hymns like “I’ll Fly Away” into “Because He Lives”. Another idea - somewhere in the worship set start on verse 3 of “O Praise the Name” (“Then on the third at break of dawn…”) through the end of the song. If you do baptisms, you could go right out of baptisms into the bridges of “Graves Into Gardens” (“You turn mourning to dancing…”) through the end of the song. Lastly, you could use part of a song as a tag coming out of another song, such as “Because He Lives”. Strip back the band and just let the voices sing out. This could even be at the end of the set. The options are endless, but the intentionality of song mashups and partial songs can give people easy access to sing the truth of Jesus’ resurrection.

5. CALL AND RESPONSE

Liturgical elements are beautiful, and they can be effective when fused into a modern service. In the middle of song or in between songs have the Worship Leader read 4-6 selected Scriptures and after each one have everyone declare something like, “There is power in the name of Jesus!” or “Because He lives, we are free!”. You could even go into a song like “There is Power in the Name of Jesus” (Tasha Cobbs) or “Who You Say I Am” (Hillsong). Here’s an example:  

Worship Leader: “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.” (Romans 6:8-9)