This is a true story. Though the specific event discussed is Easter, the lessons learned from it can apply to any event. In addition to applying to any event, we can all identify with the situation here. The challenges of ministry are so huge it is very easy to get overwhelmed in one area and totally forget another one. May the Lord have mercy and help us all.
Here’s the story–in one of my church communication seminars, at the break, a woman literally came running up the aisle to talk to me.
“Oh, thank you, thank you,” she said, “Now I understand what went wrong.”
I had just been talking about the importance of letting people know what you did on a regular basis (and maybe even where you regularly meet) when you hold a special event if you want positive results from your holiday outreach. The advice had been helpful to churches in the past, but her response was more excited than most, so I asked her to tell me more about her experience.
She then told me about a special Easter service her church put on that was a huge amount of work and an equally huge disappointment in results. Here were the details:
