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What Is a Launch Service—and Why Did We Choose Easter for Ours?
If you’ve been around The Crossings for any length of time, you’ve probably heard a lot about “launch Sunday” or “church plant launch service.” But what does that actually mean, and why did we pick Easter Sunday 2026 as the day to make our church’s debut to the community?
Let’s break it down. In the church planting world, a launch service is the big “grand opening” the day you gather your launch team, open the doors wide, invite your neighbors, and make it clear that a new church family is here and here to stay. It’s more than just the first public worship gathering, this is when you go “all in,” put out the invitation far and wide, and declare with boldness, “We’re here to love, serve, and reach this city for Jesus.”
Church planter wisdom (and Southern Baptist best practice) says a launch service isn’t just another Sunday. Instead, it’s the result of months and sometimes (in our case) years, of prayer, planning, evangelism, team-building, and preparation. When you launch, you’re telling your city, “This is your new spiritual home. All are welcome. Broken people, skeptics, longtime Christians and spiritual seekers, there’s a seat for you.”
Now, why Easter? The answer is both spiritual and strategic. Easter Sunday is, hands down, the most significant day on the Christian calendar. We gather with millions across the world to celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, guaranteeing new life for anyone who believes. Easter is our rally cry, our hope, our victory. If you want to announce to a hurting world that God can make all things new, is there any better day than Resurrection Sunday?
But beyond that, Easter is also incredibly practical. It’s the one day when more unchurched and dechurched folks are willing to give church another try, sometimes out of tradition, sometimes because they sense there’s something more, sometimes just because a friend invited them. It’s an opportunity we would be foolish to squander. Every Easter, God’s Spirit softens hearts that might have been closed the other 51 Sundays of the year. Launching on Easter lets us catch that spiritual hunger and point people not to ourselves, but to the empty tomb.
Launching on Easter sets a tone for everything that follows: We’re not a religious club. We’re a resurrection people. We want Brunswick to know the hope of Jesus is alive and available right now, for the addict and the church kid, the skeptic and the seeker. When you invite someone to launch Sunday, you’re not inviting them to a “show” or a “service.” You’re inviting them to experience the risen Christ and a family that wants to walk with them through every season of life.
Practically, our Easter launch means our entire church comes together with renewed commitment, serving, welcoming, supporting, and praying for a harvest. We have finally got all of our systems and policies in place and we are ready to go public. It’s not a finished line; it’s our starting block. From there, we build our rhythms, ministries, and outreach with the confidence that because Christ is risen, nothing is impossible.
So, as you invite, serve, or just pray over launch Sunday, remember what’s at stake. We’re not after an event; we’re after changed lives. Easter tells Brunswick and the world that hope is alive, forgiveness is real, and new beginnings are possible, for all of us. That’s why we launched on Easter, and why we are asking everyone of you to commit to inviting no less than 5 friends to attend our easter launch service.
Pastor Justin |
