Outreach at Easter

The Harborough Anglican Team tell us about how they have been making the most of Easter for mission. 

Easter is a fantastic missional opportunity for the church and is one of the 4 pillars in our ‘rhythm of mission’. Easter is our big festival and still remains something that many people are aware of and are open to engaging with. Our latest Talking Jesus research told us that 45% of the UK population holds some kind of belief in the resurrection. This is really encouraging and can give us to confidence to be bold in sharing our faith, particularly at Easter. 

The Harborough Anglican Team comprises five C. of E. churches in Market Harborough and the surrounding towns and villages, and, for them, Easter has been a great time for mission and outreach. The Revd. Pep Hill, one of the clergy on the team, told Hope that “as part of our outreach, we arranged an Easter wreath-making evening, following on from similar successful events at Christmas. We got all the materials and provided hot cross buns, tea and coffee, wine and Divine mini easter eggs, and asked for a donation of £10 to cover everything. Some guests also gave a little more so we were able to offer free tickets to people who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it.”


 
The event is a perfect example of how something simple can be so good for mission. Often it is just about opening our doors and having something easy to invite people to.

“It was a wonderful evening, bringing people from our local community together and doing something creative”

“It was a wonderful evening,” said Pep, “bringing people from our local community together and doing something creative (and easy!). I gave a short talk explaining the meaning behind some of the symbols of Easter (which, to be honest, most people carried on chatting through!) and as guests left, we gave them a copy of the Easter Hope magazine and an invitation to our Alpha course starting after Easter.”

Seeds were planted. With mission, we’re not always going to see people giving their lives to Jesus there and then. Evangelism is usually a more gradual process that’s founded on relationships. Talking Jesus has shown us the importance of a personal relationship with bringing someone to faith, and as the team at Harborough has found, events such as this Easter wreath-making has been an opportunity to build relationships with the local community. 

“We have built relationships and given people a way in”

“We have built relationships and given people a way in,” said Pep. What the team at Harborough have shown is that it’s also important to have something to invite people to next. The ‘rhythm of mission’ is about having invitations and spaces to grow these relationships all year round, and that’s just what happened at Harborough with the Alpha course and Christmas events. 

“And hopefully, they'll read the magazine and it will start them thinking” Pep added. Indeed, having something for people to take home is another way to gently remind people about the experience they had, while also getting them thinking more about faith.

This is a real encouragement to us that something simple can bring people into our churches and closer to Jesus. Easter is a huge opportunity for us, and one not to be missed. 


What could you do this Easter?

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Our magazine, Hope for ALL, has been created to be shared with non-Christians and is available in the Hope Shop for just 15p per copy. Find it here. 

It’s always exciting for us at Hope to hear about how you are doing mission. We would love to hear your stories, so please get in touch!