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Why Elevation Church Won’t Say ‘Resurrection’ On Easter Invites

Or "calvary" or the phrase "the blood of Jesus."

Author

Brady Shearer
March 07, 2024

Hey, it’s Brady,

Nicki Shearer is Elevation Church’s Digital Content Director.

Recently, we sat down to chat and she shared with me why Elevation doesn’t use the word ‘resurrection’ in Easter invites…

Importantly, Elevation absolutely emphasizes the resurrection of Christ in an Easter service (and uses that word). Yet, you won’t find it on an Easter invitation of theirs.

Why?

To quote Nicki: “For us, the most important thing on Easter is inviting people to church. This means reaching people far from God. So we’re not going to use the words calvary, resurrection, or the phrase “the blood of Jesus.” We won’t use language that will immediately make someone feel like an outsider.”

This is a timeless principle of human communication:

Different language for different audiences.

So what might Elevation do instead?

The source of their language is always Scripture. For example, John 16:33:

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

To a Christian audience, Elevation might use language about the resurrection here. To an audience far from God, they might say something like “hope in hopeless situations.”

  • The source remains the same - Scripture.

  • The wisdom remains the same.

  • The language changes.

In the same way Paul tailored his message to the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers.

Because it doesn’t matter how amazing your message might be if it’s not accessible to the people you’re trying to reach.

Finally, as your relationship changes, language changes again.

You meet people where they are. Then lead them to where God wants them to be. 🙌

An Honest Conversation With Elevation Church’s Copywriter

A few more items Nicki talks about in our recent podcast episode:

  • How to write language guides for all major church events

  • The 3 C’s that define Elevation’s messaging

  • Why Elevation doesn’t do #PrayFor posts anymore

Thanks as always for your time, attention, and trust. Talk to you next Thursday. - Brady Shearer