Lent To Easter Timeline Planning Guide For Small Churches

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When your church runs primarily as a one-person show, it’s crucial to have a well-thought-out small church Lent to Easter timeline. This helps church leaders avoid the pressure and burnout that can come from this season. 

Whether you’re a solo pastor, a part-time or multi-church minister, or otherwise have a lot on your plate, this step-by-step guide can help you navigate the Lenten season with more ease, clarity, and presence. 

While your specific traditions may differ, your timeline will look fairly similar to what’s listed below. Follow along to plan your entire season ahead!

Key Dates In The Lent To Easter Timeline

Depending on the traditions your church follows, you may acknowledge some or all of the following essential dates throughout Lent. 

You’ll want to check the calendar early each year and mark the exact date of Easter, since it will change from year to year. Easter is always held on the first Sunday after the first full moon (the Paschal full moon) following the vernal equinox, which is always on March 21. Once you know that, you can start planning your season.

Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, when families typically use up rich or sweet foods before the time of fasting during Lent. 

In the UK, Ireland, Australia, and Canada, this is known as Pancake Day, and is often celebrated with a pancake supper. In the United States, it’s commonly known as Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras, and is celebrated as the last day of “fat eating.” 

Many also use this day as an opportunity to self-examine and consider where they may need to grow during the coming season.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday marks the first Day of Lent. It’s a day of confession commonly recognized by receiving the sign of the cross in ashes, typically on the forehead.

In some traditions, the previous year’s palms from Palm Sunday are burned to create the ashes for Ash Wednesday. 

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday opens Holy Week. This day is recognized by remembering Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, when people placed palms on the ground in front of him. 

Many churches carry on the use of palms, or even small crosses made of palm fronds, as a reminder of this day. 

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is a remembrance of the Last Supper and the ultimate command to love one another. This is typically a solemn and meditative service, where communion is offered. 

Depending on your traditions, you may also offer foot washing or another symbolic gesture. 

Good Friday

Good Friday centers around the crucifixion of Jesus. These services continue with a more solemn approach that typically includes scripture, prayer, and restrained music. 

In some traditions, churches hold a Tenebrae service, which includes extinguishing candles one by one, typically after an associated reading or prayer. 

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday is the time between the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s an invitation to pause and to remember the reasons for the Lenten fasting. If you have a service, it typically tends to be more of a short prayer service. 

Easter Sunday

This one probably doesn’t need too much explaining if you’ve landed on this post. On Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. This is the anchor for the rest of the Liturgical year. 

You may choose to add special touches to your main service, participate in a “sunrise” community service, or otherwise add celebratory moments to this service.

Phase 1 Of Your Small Church Lent To Easter Timeline: Pre-Lent Planning (What To Do 4-6 Weeks Before Ash Wednesday)

The most important thing you can do as soon as Advent ends is check your calendar to start planning for the Lenten season. 

Once you’ve determined where Easter and Ash Wednesday land, you’ll want to make sure to set aside time for the following:

• Check the lectionary to finalize sermon themes leading up to and through Lent
• Determine which services your church will host and set the times for them. Start thinking of additions you may make to these services outside of what you normally do, and who/what you will need to carry them out.
• Create a list of items to check the inventory of and/or order. This includes things like:
  • Palms for Palm Sunday
  • Ashes for Ash Wednesday
  • Communion supplies (remember that attendance could be higher during this time, so there may be cause to order additional supplies!)
  • Altar candles, or additional items for special services
• Recruit and train volunteers, if needed, for any special services or events. You may need extra help for things like:
  • A Shrove Tuesday gathering or meal, 
  • Additional ushers or helpers for guiding new guests during any of the special services
  • Scripture readers
  • Special musicians 
  • Additional marketing assistance for the variety of things happening
  • Any other special touches you may have during this time
• Create graphics, video promotions, Facebook Events, mailers, or any other special marketing materials you need to promote these services. Don’t forget to turn things in early to account for things like edits or print times!

Phase 2 Of Your Small Church Lent To Easter Timeline: The 40 Days (Scheduling From Ash Wednesday To Palm Sunday)

The most important thing you can do to help yourself lead with clarity and love is to plan ahead. This can and should be done with, at the very least, a general outline of how you want each week of Lent to look. This keeps you from spinning your wheels or forgetting necessary things until the last minute. 

Make sure to include things in your schedule such as:

• Finalizing sermon preparation for each week
• Reminders of upcoming suppers, mid-week prayer services, or small group activities that you need to be aware of
• Particularly if you’re a solo pastor or bi-vocational, try to keep extras to a minimum. This will give you more time to recharge between commitments.

Phase 3 Of Your Small Church Lent To Easter Timeline: Holy Week Services (Palm Sunday Through Easter Sunday)

Again, it’s best to prepare in advance for Holy Week. You don’t have to account for every minute. Having an outline of the week, major points for your sermon, and notes on any extras can be incredibly helpful. 

Another thing to remember is that each event during Holy Week doesn’t necessarily have to have an entire service devoted to it. You may choose to do a short prayer and communion service for Maundy Thursday and/or Good Friday. This allows you to save your energy for Easter Sunday.

Here are some simple ideas to carry you through the week:

Palm Sunday

Order palms, if that’s your tradition, and spend your energy on tailoring the sermon and music to the mood of the day.

Maundy Thursday

Choose a short service, beginning with a scripture reading of the Last Supper, one or two contemplative songs, communion, and a closing prayer.

Good Friday

If you choose to have a service, you can opt for a Tenebrae service. This short, yet impactful service can be done in a few steps:

• Greeting
• Alternating scripture readings with the extinguishing of candles
• Closing prayer and silent departure

Holy Saturday

If you feel like it’s too much to have another service on this day, have a pre-printed devotional to pass out earlier in the week and/or to email to your congregation with a meditation on the importance of the day, some reflection questions, and a short prayer that your congregation can do on their own.

Remember: Easter Sunday is your big day – use this day to recuperate before the festivities, if you can.

Easter Sunday

This is the day you can go all out. To lighten your load, you may consider:

• Participating in an ecumenical community service for the sunrise service so you can focus more energy on your main service
• Asking for volunteers to lead a children’s moment, if your church likes to have one
• Asking for a volunteer to coordinate any special music, ordering Easter lilies, or other additional touches for the service.

Let the spirit of the day propel you through whatever services you decide to host or participate in.

What To Cut From Your Small Church Lent To Easter Timeline

This is often one of the more challenging parts of planning the Lenten season. You may come up against refrains of, “but we’ve always done XYZ.” And that may be the case, but you may not have the capacity or support for those things any longer.

When deciding what to keep or cut, consider the following:

• Are there certain services or parts of services that we no longer have the volunteer capacity to maintain?
• Are there services or parts of services that we no longer have the budget to maintain?
• What is your schedule as a clergyperson, and are there things that no longer fit into your availability? 

While you can expect extra work during this season, there’s also a balance between a reasonable stretch and overdoing it to the point of burnout. You may have to have some frank discussions with your elders, board, or volunteers about what to expect. 

Additionally, if there are things that a committee of volunteers can handle, consider allowing them to take on the things they don’t want to see dropped. This may include planning a pancake supper for Shrove Tuesday or a children’s service as part of the Easter Sunday celebrations.

Creating A Small Church Lent To Easter Timeline Helps Leaders Avoid Burnout

Remember, the best thing you can do when planning for the Lenten season is to give yourself plenty of time. Ideally, more time than you think you need. Things always seem to come up the closer to Easter we get. When you have your basic outline ahead of time, it will do wonders to keep overwhelm away at the last minute.

If you start early and plan out your basic flow of the season, you’ll avoid burnout and be able to actually experience the joy of Easter Sunday. 

So, as soon as Advent festivities wrap up, sit down and start planning your next big liturgical season. You’ll thank yourself later.

Read More:

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A Simple Church Event Planning Checklist For Small Teams {Free PDF}

How To Host A Community Easter Event