Ministers are only human, so some admit to having temptations Easter Sunday morning to speak out when they see people in the congregation for the first time all year or in several years.

Yes, they might consider saying, “Remember, we are here next week, too.” Or, “God doesn’t take attendance on Easter Sunday, just the week after.”

But those thoughts pass, or at least they better, said several church leaders who talked about preparing and delivering sermons on what most Christians consider the most important Sunday of the year.

Linda Hammond sets up Easter lilies at First United Methodist Church.
Rod Aydelotte / Waco Tribune-Herald

Easter is the day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. Without Christ’s victory over death, they said, the gospel has no power.

Woodway First Baptist pastor Mike Toby said he is thrilled people make it a priority to attend Easter services.

He said neither he nor the congregation should pass judgment.

“If you come only one day a year, I’m glad it is this day,” he said. “The last thing we want to do is beat people up. Chastising them or taking on a feeling of superiority certainly does not reflect the spirit of Christ.

“We are all sinners and the ground is level at the foot of the cross.”

Visitors who have not been to church in a long while may already feel uneasy.

“They may think they are going to stick out like a sore thumb, or feel so much guilt they expect the place to cave in on them,” said Doug Shafer, pastor of Waco’s First Assembly of God Church.

“That’s why we are going to make them feel comfortable,” Shafer said. “We are going to throw a net of love around them and make them feel as if they’ve been coming forever.”

The Bible instructs believers to regularly attend church, to forsake not the assembling of themselves together. While not excusing long absences, local ministers said they understand time pressures families face.

Other longtime absentees simply have become lax in their attendance.

They may attend Easter service to reconnect with their spiritual side — to rekindle their relationship with God, said Doug Blackford, pastor of Cogdell Memorial United Methodist Church.

He said Cogdell hopes to stir fond memories of church by offering special music and singing older hymns.

“I don’t think we can help but be a little skeptical of people who come only on Christmas and Easter, but I’m not interested in preaching a sermon that casts stones at those who don’t come every Sunday,” said David Story, pastor of Richfield Christian Church. “Though I’m not saying it doesn’t happen.”

Roger Huff, pastor of Community Fellowship Church of the Nazarene, said he will try to make Sunday’s sermon as simple as possible for those who may not regularly attend worship.

He said he will avoid the use of words common within Christian circles, but foreign to others.

For example, Christian believers often used the word “saved” to describe their decision to repent their sins and to place their faith in Jesus Christ. But Huff said some may respond with a question: “Saved from what?”

“Everything we do Sunday will revolve around the risen Christ,” Huff said. “What that means to someone who walks through that door may have been developing over six months. They may be rethinking their future, asking where they are in their lives and where they are going.

“They may be more accepting of the message of Christ.”

Jay Mathis, pastor of Grace Community Church, said he wonders if Easter has become too orchestrated.

“If our church service is distinctly different on Easter, we may need to examine the other 51 weeks,” Mathis said. “Those who attend need to be loved and told the truth of the gospel.”

He said longtime absentees who show up for Easter services may generate interesting private conversation, “but that should not come up during the worship service or from the pulpit.”

Jimmy Abbott, assistant rector at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, said, “Growing up as a kid, I would go to church only at Christmas and Easter because I thought it was the right thing to do.”

Now, he said, “I would ask people to think it’s the right thing to do every Sunday.”

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