Written by Easter is an amazing time of year for Christians. Your church is probably gearing up for Good Friday and Easter services. In fact, this time of year is probably shaping up to be pretty busy for you and your church. I can relate to the busyness. Our church has extra services and it feels like it’s all hands on deck.
But one of the amazing things we do during the Easter season at our church is celebrate baptisms on Palm Sunday. It’s become a tradition within our church and it is a great opportunity to invite people in our community who don’t usually attend church to join us.
The individuals who get baptized invite their neighbors, friends, and families as they embody the mission that Jesus gave to all of us in Matthew 28. We then are able to invite them back the following week for Easter and connect them further with our church community.
I don’t know about your church experience, but as I was growing up baptisms were not necessarily celebrated. They happened in church services but were fairly muted in how people responded to them.
What I love about our church is that we have shaped our baptisms into a full service that celebrates and highlights what God is doing in the lives of our people. But how do we do that well? How do we elevate and celebrate the Great Commission within our communities?
Make it community-oriented.
One of the things we do is we encourage families, friends, small groups, and others who have been influential in the person’s faith journey to come up with them. They surround the baptismal and are there to show that they are for the individual and love them deeply. It’s an amazing picture of unity and fellowship within the Body of Christ and it is a wonderful encouragement to the person being baptized.
Create a unique service.
I know this takes more time and potentially more people depending on your church size. But what if the Spirit of God moves and 20 people (or more) want to get baptized? That happened to us and we had to radically alter the service. Our senior pastor was the one who stated, “It’s not that we aren’t having a sermon, it’s that we are having multiple sermons with practical application.”
Simply put: the testimonies are the sermon. It may mean shifting songs and service order. It may mean calling an audible and not having certain elements. But by creating a unique setting and elevating what God is doing, you are making the ordinance of baptism special for the people being baptized and your church overall.
Have a time of celebration.
This could be cookies and lemonade after the service. It could be a photo booth and balloons. Or perhaps it’s a church potluck or BBQ. Whatever way you choose, crafting a time of celebration helps your people see that baptism isn’t just a moment but is an opportunity to continue engaging with one another and sharing the Good News with others.
Have a gift ready.
I get it. Money is tight, and we are feeling it in our budgets. I’m not advocating for anything lavish or over the top. This could be as simple as a handwritten card. Perhaps you’re able to put a small gift card in with it. Maybe you can actually put together a small gift bag with a devotional. Whatever you’re able to do will make this day even more special and memorable for the people getting baptized.
Follow up.
After a couple of days, and when appropriate, ask the person out for coffee or lunch to catch up and see how they are doing. Ask questions about what they remember from their baptism. Ask them who they have shared their story with. See how you can continue to help them on their faith journey.
These moments of intentional follow-up highlight that the church and you care for these individuals and want to help them grow in their relationship with Jesus.
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