Today, Easter Sunday, millions will attend church across the nation.

For many, it will be the only day of the year they sit down in a sanctuary.

Churches will be ready.

They’ll have choirs, decorations and sermons. There will be smiling greeters at the door, people with programs inside, and coffee and doughnuts, too, as they celebrate what is considered the cornerstone of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago.

Churches, according to John Squiric, a church marketing consultant, should not miss this chance to share their message.

“Easter is the most significant day in the life of the church and more people will walk through the doors of your church on Easter Sunday than on any other day of the year,” he wrote.

“The church failing to market Easter would be like Doritos not marketing for Super Bowl Sunday. It would be absurd, more people are watching on that day than any other. Likewise, more people will come to your church on Easter Sunday than any other day of the year.”

Many churches heed that advice to attract visitors.

They put ads in newspapers, publish fliers and venture beyond their four walls with services at parks, college auditoriums and cemeteries.

Four churches will come together for a sunrise service at the Greyhound Park in Post Falls headed by North Country Chapel, but Cory Kirkham, pastor of Calvary Rathdrum, one of the other churches involved, said the setting is about as far as the special effects will go.

“If what we do every week is based on a special production or some dog and pony show to hook people, then it becomes like Saturday Night Live to come up with something more radical or crazy,” Kirkham said. “It’s not based on what we can come up with; it’s based on the power and truth of the message. That’s the model we’ll follow.

“Our hope is not to impress people on Easter or Christmas with some stunning musical piece or drama, but to present the simple truth. That truth has the power to impact someone’s life. We don’t worship someone who is dead. Rather, we worship a God who is alive.”

Buddy Jones, pastor of Coeur d’Alene Worship Center, plans to give the same sermon theme he gives every Easter Sunday: A message about the resurrection, and the hope of what that means for each person — no matter who they are or what they’ve done.

“That’s the beauty of the resurrection,” he said.

Who believes

A recent survey by American Bible Society and Barna Group reveals 69 percent of U.S. adults celebrate Easter as a religious holiday. The survey also found:

• 31 percent of Americans age 18 to 27 celebrate Easter as a non-religious holiday

• 14 percent of Americans do not celebrate Easter

• 78 percent of Americans age 66 and older celebrate Easter as a religious holiday versus 56 percent of Americans age 18 to 27

“The survey demonstrates that most Americans remember why Easter is deemed a holiday,” said American Bible Society President Lamar Vest.

“The results of this survey should be encouraging for Christians,” added David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group. “Most Americans still observe Easter as a religious holiday even as candy consumption and egg hunts have often overshadowed its spiritual significance.”

What happened

The Bible tells us, and historians and scholars generally agree, that a man named Jesus lived 2,000 years ago. He had many followers. The New Testament tells us he claimed to be God, he performed miracles and he said he would be put to death and rise again in three days. It says he was beaten, whipped, crucified and died. His body was placed in a tomb, blocked by a boulder and guarded by Roman soldiers.

Three days later, the tomb was empty. Each of the four Gospels say that Jesus appeared to his disciples and hundreds of others.

A Jewish historian, Josephus, also wrote a man named Jesus was crucified and on the third day “appeared restored to life.”

But many continue to question whether his followers really saw Jesus again. Did they make up the story, maybe imagine it? What happened to the body? Was it stolen?

To some, Jesus was a great prophet, a man with followers, but certainly not God.

Paul, an apostle, wrote in the Bible that if Christ didn’t rise, his faith — and the faith of all Christians — was meaningless.

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,” Paul wrote in 1st Corinthinans 15:20.

Marketing Easter

The banner across the top of Squiric’s website says, “MarketingLikeGod.com” and “How to get people to want to come to your church.”

He offers “8 Steps to Ensure Success on Easter Sunday and Beyond.”

Churches, he writes, need a plan.

“Often we fail to plan and we miss out on a unique opportunity to impact our communities. Easter is your Super Bowl. We believe that if you plan accordingly it will be your most significant outreach event of the year.”

His tips include knowing your guests, being creative, advertising, and offering a “message of value.”

“Your job is to show them that what you offer is more than just a social gathering or a religion; it’s truth, answers, relationship and so much more,” he wrote.

“You have a captive audience. Seize the opportunity to do something great in the life of your community.”

What pastors say

Mike Rima is the senior pastor at Lake City Community Church, which will have five services this weekend. The church will be baptizing nearly 100 people.

“We have provided the opportunity for people who have yet to go public with their faith, to drive that stake into the ground Easter weekend,” he said.

Rima said LCCC, which attracted around 4,000 Easter church goers last year, doesn’t do anything extravagant on Easter Sunday that visitors might never see again.

“We try to, as much as possible, do something at Lake City that would be similar to what they would experience if they came to a regular service,” he said.

If they did pull out some divine drama during service, a first-time visitor on Easter might return, and say, ‘This was not anything like what I went to on Easter.”

People attending church on Easter come from many backgrounds and experiences, and are on their own spiritual journey. So Lake City Community Church must be consistent in its Sunday message, Rima said.

“I just want to play whatever role God would have me play this weekend on someone’s journey,” Rima said.

Ron Hunter, pastor of Coeur d’Alene Church of the Nazarene, has been delivering a sermon series leading up to Easter “designed to show what it was we lost when Adam sinned.”

He said the church always sees an increase in attendance on Easter Sunday.

Years back, there was the belief churches needed to “be cute,” and different on Easter Sunday.

Not so, says Hunter.

“We have to be clear, we have to be focused, we have to proclaim the good news,” he said.

Father Roger LaChance of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Coeur d’Alene said Easter Sunday, like every Sunday, is a chance to proclaim God’s love.

Jesus, LaChance said, called on people to love God, and love their neighbors.

It’s not easy to love some people in our lives, he said.

“That is why we come here each week, to receive nourishment, encouragement and strength,” he said. “We need the strength for the coming week.”

Whether first-time visitors or long-time members walk through the hallowed doors this morning, nothing should change the basic Sunday service structure.

“You welcome them,” he said. “You’re always glad they’re there.”