Easter Service Program

Have you started thinking about Easter yet?

Holidays, like Easter, Pentecost Sunday, Christmas, All Nations Sunday, etc., provide a great opportunity to do something different and special in your services. No matter what size your church is, you can have a special program!

As most of you know, my husband and I are in the process of planting a church in downtown Seattle. We take every opportunity to do something exciting and have a special reason for people to come and check us out. Right now, we’re the only 2 currently involved in the speaking and singing on Sundays, but that doesn’t stop us from planning a special service and mixing things up!

We do a very simplified Easter program that I want to share with you along with one that would be great to do with a praise team. Using a combination of videos, congregational songs, and special songs is a great way to tell a story or present a theme for the service. So, here’s what I would do!

Easter Service Program

VIDEO | Crucified

CONGREGATIONAL HYMN |  The Old Rugged Cross / LISTEN / CHORDS

SPECIAL SONG | O The Blood (Solo or Small Group) / LISTEN / CHORDS or At the Cross (Love Ran Red) / LISTEN & CHORDS

SCRIPTURE READING | Luke 23:44-56, 24:1-6 (Ending with, “He is risen!”)

VIDEO | Risen

SPECIAL SONG | He’s Alive (Small Group or Choir, could also be Congregational) / LISTEN / CHORDS

CONGREGATIONAL WORSHIP SONG | Hallelujah Easter Medley / CHORDS

PASTOR’S MESSAGE

ALTAR CALL | Worth / LISTEN / CHORDS (Unless not appropriate. Should be discussed with Pastor in the planning stage.)

Easter Service Program Simplified

All songs can easily be done using only one vocalist and a keyboard/piano. 

VIDEO | Crucified

CONGREGATIONAL HYMN |  The Old Rugged Cross / LISTEN / CHORDS

SPECIAL SONG | O The Blood (Solo) / LISTEN / CHORDS

SCRIPTURE READING | Luke 23:44-56, 24:1-6 (Ending with, “He is risen!”)

VIDEO | Risen

CONGREGATIONAL WORSHIP SONG | Hallelujah Medley (Modified) / CHORDS

VIDEO | That’s My King 

PASTOR’S MESSAGE

ALTAR CALL

The idea is to tell the story of Easter from start to finish and hopefully have the Pastor end it on a call for response from the congregation. If you’re not the Pastor, be sure to discuss the Easter service program with him, get his approval, and be sure you do something that will compliment his message and/or vision for the service.

The songs can all be replaced if you have something else in mind! My husband sang How Could You Not Love Him Back as a special last year… well I make him sing it every year because I love it so much! He does it a little slower and sings all the verses back to back, modulating at each one, then sings the chorus last several times through. It makes the song more dramatic and moving, in my opinion.

The videos are such a great touch, but they will require a $40 to $60 investment. It’s well worth it for us since we don’t have any small groups or choirs at the moment and the videos can be reused for many Easter’s to come! If you don’t have the technology to play videos in your service, you can easily swap those videos out for additional Scripture readings or songs.

If you have kids or youth in your church, get them involved by having them sing an age appropriate song or do a sign language/drama song. Just be sure to add in additional songs in the correct place, keeping with the theme of telling the story.

More Easter Songs I Love

Risen – Covenant Worship / LISTEN & CHORDS

Jesus Paid It All – Kristian Stanfill / LISTEN & CHORDS

Victor’s Crown – Darlene Zschech / LISTEN & CHORDS

The Blood Medley – Texas Bible College / LISTEN

That Same Spirit – Texas Bible College / LISTEN

Nothing But the Blood – Matt Redman / LISTEN & CHORDS

Do you have any easy Easter program suggestions? I’d love to hear what you’ve done or what you’re planning to do this year! Let me know in the comments below.

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