It’s no mistake that Lent lasts for 6 weeks, but Easter lasts for 7. The church calendar is designed to invite us into celebration, not just repentance. Celebrating for small ways for seven weeks gives congregations and families an opportunity to engage with the joy of resurrection transformation and hope over almost 2 months!
Consider celebrating through a few of the activities below:
Nature Hikes Easter celebrates the new life we have in Christ and the redemption of the world through Christ. Celebrate by spending some extra time in creation, noticing the signs of God’s renewing the earth in springtime.
Egg Re-Hunt If you haven’t scheduled an Easter Sunday hunt yet, consider waiting a week or two and hosting your family Egg Hunt on a different Sunday in Easter. Small children will enjoy re-hiding and hunting the eggs for weeks. You can even portion out the Easter candy for re-hiding throughout the next seven weeks.
Plant Something Head to the local nursery and choose a new flower for your table or porch. Spring time flowers are a symbol of new life. Tending to a new flower through regular watering serves as reminder of our call to tend to our new life in Christ through continued spiritual formation.
Special Cereal Sundays Throughout Lent, I talked with the children at church about fasting. Now that it’s a feasting season, we’re going to celebrate with Sunday morning snacks that we don’t have any other time of the year- sweet cereal. We rarely serve a snack at all on Sunday mornings, so the excitement of sugary cereal for seven weeks connects with an elementary-school understanding of feasting.
Art Project The 7 weeks of Easter are a perfect time to create art projects in advance for remembering the Ascension (Thursday, May 25, 2017) and Pentecost (Sunday, June 4, 2017), especially if you wait to hang them up until the holidays.
Decorations As a mobile church in a rented space, my congregation doesn’t have a whole lot of flexibility for wall decorations, but we can make things look more cheerful with bright table cloths, streamers, and a “Week _ of Easter” sign counting all the way to week 7.
Justice Activity Throughout Lent, we talk about giving up something to pray for and serve others. Easter doesn’t mean that we forget the causes we act on behalf of, though! Share the excitement and hope of the Easter celebration through serving in your community.