For most churches, Easter is the weekend when you'll see more visitors and higher attendance than just about any other weekend in a year. It's often a time when we decorate with new signage and come up with some very creative Easter church ideas focusing on the Gospel, and the symbols of the Easter story using our signage to highlight the cross and the resurrection.

While Easter signage is important, keeping in mind the goal of connecting people to Jesus has to be the priority.

Part of getting people connected to Jesus is getting them coming back to your church, not just attending on Easter Sunday, so while your church signs can attract visitors to Easter weekend, the goal should be to get them to feel comfortable enough to come back the next week.

With that goal in mind, here are...

5 Church Signs You Need This Easter

Idea 1) An Invitation to Easter Service

How many times have you heard someone who's not into sports say "oh yeah, this weekend is the big game" or "Oh right, the Stanley Cup." If you're into sports, these events may be obvious.

While it may be obvious to you that Easter is coming up, it may not be front and center for the average person in your community that Easter weekend is coming.

Most people won't choose a church because they saw a sign out front on your church property, but a sign on your property could act as a reminder as someone drives by after seeing a sign on the front lawn of one of your church members, or a sign stuck near the sidewalk of a business, or a business card invite handed to them by a coworker, or a poster hung up at a local charity.

All of these invite points end up compacting into helping someone to make the decision (to simply act as a reminder) about Easter services at your church.

Any one of these signs on their own may not be the tipping point for a visitor, but the "I see that Easter invite everywhere" feeling may do it for them once a church member then makes a personal invitation.

Idea 2) Flag Banner Parking Lot Signs

Your guests have some level of apprehension when choosing to visit your church's Easter services, whether this is their first time or simply that it's been a while.

Your guests probably have some ideas (right or wrong) about what might happen and what they could expect.

Confusion will only raise that apprehension (and make it easier to justify turning around and going home), so have clear signs to mark the entrance to your parking lot.

Whether you've got grass, flower beds, or simply just concrete if you have a parking garage, a flag banner is a perfect solution.

With some flag banner designs standing 14 feet tall, brightly colored designs, and flapping in even the gentlest breeze, a flag banner is a great way to give your guests the confidence that they've found the right place.

Flag banners come with the option of a stake for soft ground (like grass, flower beds, or landscaping) or a base for standing on concrete or gravel, so decide where you'd like to put them and let our team know which base to include in your shipment.

If you're not entirely sure, send some pictures and we'll help with a few ideas and what we've learned from working with many churches.

Idea 3) Signs To Indicate Which Door To Use

In the same vein, have signage that indicates which doors to use at your church:

• Do the kids have their own entrance?

• Is there a different entrance for Junior High?

• Does your building have a wrap-around parking lot?

• Are you meeting at a school, library, community building, or movie theatre with different entrance areas?

• Are there multiple buildings on your property?

Don't make guests try and guess where they should go once they're parked, and don't assume that guests will simply know to follow the crowd.

Be obvious enough that it might seem too obvious to you. To a guest, this is the right level of "obvious." A frame (or sandwich board signs) are perfect for this application.

Idea 4) Help Easter Church Guests Find Their Way With Way-Finding Signage

Yes, you have an incredible guest services team who is ready to help anyone who is looking for directions, but on a weekend like Easter, they may be overwhelmed with people coming or going, and some guests would rather find their own way than have to ask someone.

Way-finding signage is not just important for Easter - it should be a permanent feature of your church building.

On a weekend like Easter where you may have extra services, additional kids classrooms open or an overflow auditorium, way-finding signage is essential to help guests navigate their way around.

Be sure that your way-finding signage can be read about the heads of a crowd wherever it's located - either affixed to the ceiling, posted on a wall, or at a landing at the top of a stairwell.

If you need a portable solution, then consider putting information can be located on the upper section of a roll-up banner sign that can be easily retracted back into its housing and stored or transported without damaging the sign.

Customize the lower section of the banner to include your church logo.

Just because it may not always be seen doesn't meet it will never be seen.

Idea 5) Signage For Upcoming Events or Series

Remember that our goal is not just to get people into the building for Easter, but to help them get connected at your church.

Signage that encourages someone to join a life group, come back for the series that starts next week, or bring their kids to youth is all an important part of their Easter service experience.

Having signs suggesting they take immediate action placed in positions where people will see them as they're leaving your auditorium allows them to be reminded to register for a group, volunteer for outreach events, or sign up for a youth event at your church's information center before they leave.

Signs that talk about upcoming events that don't need registration (like your next sermon series, or a midweek service) can be placed right at the door to the parking lot, in or around the parking lot, and at the exits of the parking lot provide a final reminder.

-----

You may have one or more of these church signs in place already, but offering people an invitation to Easter services, an indication that they've found the right place, a direction of which door to use and where to go once inside, and a further invitation to join you again take your Easter signs from pure decoration to decoration with purpose.