153.

In the church I grew up in, I recall Easter Sunday as the busiest, most crowded Sunday of the year, as families reunited and attended services together.  In the sanctuary that seated 500, I remember seeing the ushers bring in additional folding chairs down each aisle so that late comers had seats at the edge of each row.  The mid-80s was a time when that particular church was booming, and folks came to Easter services in their Sunday best.

Fast forward to the early 21st Century, and the church my family and I were attending was usually lucky to have 35 to 40 people in attendance on any given Sunday morning.  Easter Sunday usually saw a small spike, perhaps 50 to 60 in attendance, but there were usually still many empty seats.  When the pastor of that church decided to leave, there were certainly some who thought that perhaps this small church in a beautiful coastal city would eventually close its doors, destined to disappear like so many other churches across the country, with an aging congregation and a committed, yet tired core group who would one day decide that enough was enough.

Yet when an interim pastor came in, bringing with him new energy and passion for the Word of God each Sunday, a spark of life took a hold of this congregation.   Families that attended once a month started to attend weekly.  Newer faces appeared, and cross pollination began with another small congregation in town.  Before long, after substantial prayer, it became clear that perhaps a new church family was to be born by the union of the two small congregations.

The first few Sundays together our weekly attendance hovered around 6o to 65 people.  After a few short months, the weekly attendance began to trek upward, and on average anywhere between 85 to 90 folks would attend services on a weekly basis, along with a couple more viewing the service online.  The church even topped 100 in attendance a couple of times.

Yet we could sense we were being called to reach more folks.

About a month ago the challenge was placed before the congregation: each family would receive a packet of 10 invitations to send to others, to invite them to come and join us on Easter Sunday morning.  Certainly, many individuals had, on their own, invited friends, family and neighbors previously, but this was going to be the first time that the entire church family would do this together – to create a culture of invitation for Easter.  And as a church family, we prayed for a packed house on Easter Sunday.

As the weeks got closer, the sense of anticipation grew.  We prepared for overflow seating in the entryway and extra seats in the sanctuary.  Since we share our building with another church, we had individuals to help direct parking for guests, we had extra ushers and greeters, and set up extra speakers and a video feed into the entry way.

When yesterday morning arrived, the excitement was palpable.  Folks streamed in…seats filled up…the worship band kicked off the service, and folks continued to arrive.  We took a count and were blown away to see 153 folks in attendance.

We were awed.

To begin new life as a church 19 months ago with 60 to 65 in attendance, see gradual growth to 85 to 90, and to see a spike to 153 for Easter Sunday – we were utterly blown away.

Where do we go from here?

We don’t know what God has in store for subsequent weeks – but it was clear that creating a culture of invitation, creating a culture of friendship, creating a culture in which folks could see that Christ-followers are regular folks, speaks to our local community.

One thing’s for sure – we can’t wait to see what happens next.