Are Easter Outreaches a Thing of the Past?

Whether it’s billboards, giveaways, or helicopter egg drops, this is the time of year when churches go all out to get people in the building.

It makes sense.

Easter Sunday is still the highest-attended Protestant service—and this year will be no different. That’s a good thing! I pray God changes many lives this weekend.

Still, all the promotion reflects a mindset that’s guided the Church for decades: get them in the building.

But times have changed.

In 1990, 86% of Americans identified as Christian.

They weren’t all devoted followers—many were Easter-and-Christmas churchgoers living lives far from biblical faith.

Yet, they still viewed Christianity positively.

They were the ones who packed evangelistic rallies led by Billy Graham, Luis Palau, and others. With a generally favorable view of the Church, these preachers could fill stadiums and preach using Scripture as a shared authority.

That world is gone.

We now live in a post-Christian culture.

The fastest-growing “religious group” in America is the religiously unaffiliated—with over 30 million added in the last decade. Among millennials and Gen Z, nearly half now fall into this category.

Why? Because nominal Christians are becoming secularized.

Our culture has shed its religious roots and is shaped by secularism (death to religion) and relativism (death to truth). The Bible is no longer seen as a moral authority—everyone defines right and wrong for themselves.

To many young people, the Church feels irrelevant—just a tradition of the past.

Today, identifying as a Christ follower often means being seen as narrow-minded, anti-scientific, or even hateful. With rising cost and shrinking benefit, the exodus makes sense.

And yet, our evangelistic efforts still focus on those with a nominal Christian worldview, relying on the same “come and see” or “bring your friend” model—even as the cultural gap continues to widen.

We should invite people to church. I’m all for creativity and great marketing. But let’s be honest—they’re not coming to us. We have to go to them.

That's what Jesus did. He spent time with sinners, tax collectors, and the notorious. So much so, he was accused of being one.

Paul did the same. In Acts 17:17,

“He reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”

Going forward, our greatest energy, resources, and creativity should go toward answering this question:
“How do I reach people who won’t come to church?”

Empowered by God, this is the way forward.