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Doesn’t it make you feel special when you attend an event or visit a church for the first time and get treated like a VIP? Of course, we all like to be appreciated and warmly greeted when we arrive! But it makes the visit so much more special to leave with a thank-you gift and connection cards! Let’s make Easter gifts!
Why Do I Need To Give A Gift?
As we all know, Easter and Christmas are two of the biggest church events for first-time guests. It’s so important for our small churches to make our new visitors feel special and welcome.
Greeting our guests warmly is definitely important in our churches and can be a great reminder that they are loved and valued. Let’s keep that warmth going by taking the next step and sending them home with church welcome gift bags. This gift bag should also include materials about your church community and its ministries, as well as a way for your guests to contact the church for follow-ups. In addition, your gift bags should include a prayer request card and your pastor’s business card.
To make sure everything is ready for their arrival, check out this article, Ready! Set! Go! Help Easter Visitors Feel Welcome. It will help you prepare for your Easter guests.
I love making small gift bags with a few fun items. It’s usually less expensive but always feels like so much more!! Before you purchase, you need to know your budget for your Easter gifts.
Visitor Gift Bag Planning Tips
- Make a list of what you hope to include in your free gift bags and price them out before you go to your leadership so that you can give them an accurate figure to work from.
- If your church budget does not allow purchasing the items, you could ask church members to bring certain items or take up a special collection for this purpose.
- Many items on the suggestion list can be purchased at discount stores or in quantity discounts from places like CTA, Inc, one of our ministry resource partners.
Purchase plain paper gift bags in your church logo color or brown kraft bags. The good news is, that you can often you can find them in bulk and inexpensive. Colored tissue paper is a great way to finish off the bags with an artistic yet simple flare, tied shut with a raffia or curling ribbon.
Step up the appearance of these bags by personalizing them with label stickers. Use the church logo and name, denominational logo, or an Easter clipart. It’s a good idea to try a publishing app online like Canva or Publisher. Better yet, find someone in your church who has artistic talent in that way. Invite them to be part of the team to help do this!
Suggested Items To Choose From
- Devotional books – small items, inexpensive types such as Daily Bread. CTA, Inc. has several options.
- Bookmarks – These can even be homemade by teens, a women’s group, or children’s class
- Pen with church name/logo – are great items to have on hand to give away
- Mints – such as a roll of lifesaver-style mints, Tic Tacs, a small tin of mints, or chocolate-style mint candies
- Small Notepad
- Water bottles with your church logo on it
- A cleaning cloth for glasses or screens/phones
- Individual hand wipes or small bottles of hand sanitizer
- A card with a list of local emergency numbers (You may be able to contact the fire or police station; they may have them to give away.)
- Contact your local chapter of Gideons and see if you can get some pocket New Testament Bibles or the Book of John.
- Individual pocket packs of tissues
- A small tool – You can usually find something at a discount store, like an eyeglass screwdriver kit or a small measuring tape. Think useful items but think out of the box!
Extra, Extra!
If you have a little more money to put into your project or you can get individuals to donate these items, these are very nice to have (try contacting your local businesses):
- Gift cards to a local coffee shop (Talk to the store. They may give you a good deal on multiple cards purchased at one time.)
- Coupons for a percentage off or a dollar amount off at a local restaurant (Again, speak with the owner/manager; you may be able to work out a deal.)
- A gift card for a donut or ice cream treat at a favorite local shop
- Coffee mugs with a small bag of ground coffee in it. Buy a large quantity of the coffee at a warehouse-type store, and then bag smaller portions in sealed bags and fun burlap bags. Add printed tags and instructions on how much to use. Or check with a local mom-and-pop coffee house for samples to give away.
Personal Notes Have A Positive Impact
Whatever you decide to put in your great gift bags, remember to add a personal note from the pastor or a church leader, as a small token of thanks for their visit. Personal notes speak volumes to your guests who are visiting for the first time! Try to include contact information as well, just in case anyone has any questions. Help them know your church wants to care for them beyond Easter Sunday and that they look forward to a repeat visit!
Give your pastor the notecards and plenty of time to fill them out before Easter. If you anticipate many guests, once your pastor comes up with the wording for a quick message, invite members to join small groups to help write the cards. Then, your pastor can go back through and sign them all once they are written. This makes such a good gift for people who aren’t familiar with you or your church family.
Using Your Project To Create Community
Gather a few sure volunteers from your church family to help when you put your gift bags together. This is an excellent opportunity to involve seniors or those not involved in other ministries. They get the chance to do good work, side by side, in a casual setting helps build community and relationships that will last far longer than that day!
Remember, we already suggested involving folks in donating small items to the bags, writing the notecards, and making bookmarks. People of all ages can get involved with this project. Let them personally be involved in welcoming new people to your church! Take the time to pray with each other about your Easter services while working together. Building Easter gifts is a great opportunity for church-family building.
Although not an Easter idea, A One-Day Event To Widen Your Outreach gives another fantastic opportunity that helps everyone in your church participate in an activity that offers great community impact.
Involve All Ages In Greeting Visitors
One of the best ways to help people be involved is to designate a team to distribute the bags on Easter. Part of their job descriptions should be to ensure that all first time guests are given a gift bag and a warm, “Thank you for joining us today!” This helps to make sure that everyone here has a positive experience.
You want your visitors to feel warmly welcomed from the moment they walk in the door to when they leave! Let them know that you look forward to seeing them the following week.
Make your Easter church services at your small church a true celebration of God’s gift to us and an opportunity for us to share that gift with your community. Spread that joy as you celebrate the risen Savior on Resurrection Day.
Read More For Easter:
The Dos And Don’ts Of Planning Worship For Easter And Christmas
