Hanging greenery and warm color washes add depth, softness, and visual life to Harvest Church’s Easter stage. Photo courtesy of Harvest Church.
For many ministries, as soon as Christmas services are in the rear-view mirror, it’s just about time to start planning for Easter. This year, barely 100 days of margin are between the two events, which means time is of the essence when planning how to manage such a critical weekend of experiences.
While ministries may carry different philosophies regarding how to approach production elements of Easter weekend, whether similar in feel to a typical Sunday or as more of a high-production experience, the constant theme would be to have an intentional approach that reinforces that ministry’s vision of what needs to resonate with their community. And often, that comes chiefly in how the services are presented from the stage with set and lighting design.
Thoughtful lighting and suspended scenic elements frame Pastor Greg Laurie, creating depth and visual focus while supporting the clarity of the Easter message. Photo courtesy of Harvest Church.
“We start with vision before visuals,” said Dave Bookhout, the Production Pastor at Tampa, Fla.’s Grace Family Church. “That means understanding the message, the pastoral intent, the audience, and the constraints. From there, ideas are refined through practical filters like budget, volunteer capacity, and long-term stewardship.”
Thoughtful lighting and suspended scenic elements frame Pastor Greg Laurie, creating depth and visual focus while supporting the clarity of the Easter message. Photo courtesy of Harvest Church.
“Treating Easter as an event does not mean over-producing,” Bookhout continued. “It means designing with purpose. When the room, visuals, lighting, and pacing are aligned, they do not distract from the message; they clarify it and help people engage emotionally and spiritually with what they are hearing. The sweet spot for many churches is thoughtful restraint. Easter should feel elevated and meaningful, but still pastoral, warm, and grounded in worship.”
As churches consider how to create their Easter stage expression, many would be well-served to first consider how any design would translate through the camera lens to an online audience, overflow room, or remote campus.
“It’s an essential part of every design for it to translate well on broadcast,” said Jacob Scaife, the Lighting and Broadcast Systems Manager at South Carolina-based multisite ministry Seacoast Church. “When I plan a design, I’m primarily thinking through the perspective of how it will look on broadcast. Broadcast is one of our primary audiences so we always have to take them into consideration.”
Grace Family’s Bookhout agreed with the approach.
“A set that feels great in the room can quickly fall apart on camera if lighting and video are not considered together from the start. Camera exposure, color temperature, contrast, and overall balance all have to work in the same system. LED panels also need to be driven at brightness levels that translate cleanly on camera, not just look impressive in the room. When lighting is designed and prioritized for the camera, it almost always still looks great in the room. The opposite is rarely true.”
Thematically, Easter tends to feel a brighter event, and pastels and bright lighting usually factor into that creative expression. Chris Eguizabal spent several years as the Production Manager at SoCal’s Harvest Church and regularly delved into that concept of a brighter, life-giving theme.
“I am a fan of using reflective materials or paint sprays to help reflect warm light,” he explained. “I have also constructed custom chandeliers with hanging plants around them to just add more light and life to the stage. The use of diffusion or soft light is always a win when you want to help create that brightness and softness on stage.”
“Soft neutrals, translucent surfaces, and subtle gloss finishes help bounce light and create a sense of openness in the room,” Bookhout added. “Depth matters too. Layered elements that interact with light in different ways add life and dimension without introducing visual noise.”
However, he pointed out the challenge that exists when “a space that is permanently bright leaves little room for contrast. Designing with control in mind allows you to create darker, more solemn moments of lament before the room opens up in celebration.”
Unfortunately, some churches struggle with having too much dead space on stage, and that can end up absorbing light and energy, causing teams to struggle to overcome that negative space.
“Even if you don’t have a lot of gear to fill your stage, you could use fabric or coroplast or even paint to fill the empty black space in a visually appealing way,” suggested Seacoast’s Scaife.
If set design budgets are limited, to say nothing of volunteer teams’ abilities to fabricate something, one of the easiest and cheapest ways to create an Easter refresh may lie in just shifting whatever lighting or scenic elements already exist.
“When I was the lighting designer and we had no budget for stage designs, I would always change up what fixtures were where on stage,” recalled Eguizabal. “Take some lights that are high and bring them down to the floor and surround your band. Add some heavy side lighting to make it more moody and intimate, bringing everything down and in if you want to create a really great, impactful, and intimate worship experience.”
THUS, THERE WAS NO EXTRA COST, BUT IT ALLOWED THE CONGREGANTS TO EXPERIENCE THE ROOM IN A DIFFERENT WAY AND PERSPECTIVE THAN THEY HAD PREVIOUSLY.
“Simple changes like re-configuring scenic pieces you already own, adjusting depth and spacing on stage, or introducing fabric and diffusion in new ways can create a noticeably different feel,” stated Bookhout, who also has founded Mission Creative, an organization designed to help churches better align technology and visuals to tell their stories more effectively. “Small lighting adjustments and brighter, more hopeful color palettes can further support the shift without requiring new equipment. We’ve also seen great results by simplifying the stage and removing visual clutter. Sometimes the win isn’t adding something new, it’s creating space for what already exists to breathe.”
And sometimes, the best way to create a new visual experience may be collecting dust in a closet backstage.
Adam McIntyre has been the Creative Arts Pastor at The Grove Community Church in Riverside, Calif., for the last four years and is a heavy proponent of using projection to enhance worship environments by turning ordinary walls into creative canvases.
“Many churches have projectors sitting unused after moving to LED walls,” he stated. “A projector is essentially another light source, and it can be used to shape the environment in subtle ways. Projection can add texture, movement, or emphasis to walls, scenic elements, or architectural features like a cross. Simple projection mapping is more accessible than ever. Tools like MadMapper make it fast and approachable, and even programs like After Effects or newer mobile-based mapping apps can be effective with minimal setup. Get a laptop, an HDMI cable, and a projector and you can draw on your architecture wherever you can point your projector.”
Thoughtful lighting follows the arc of worship, shifting from quiet intimacy to vibrant shared celebration. Image courtesy of Seacoast Church.
At The Grove, their creative team has also leaned into the idea that the congregation can help create the experience instead of just observing it.
McIntyre recalled, “One approach we have used in the past is inviting people in the church to contribute artwork as a response to Holy Week. We created a temporary gallery space where paintings, photography, poetry, and mixed media pieces reflected different moments or themes from the week leading up to Easter. It gave people a way to engage creatively with the story and allowed the church to experience Easter through the voices and perspectives of its own community.”
He continued, “Another effective option is creating something memorable that people can take with them. Photo moments, simple installations, or small take-home items can reinforce the message long after the service ends. One year, we ended a service with a song centered on light and hope, and everyone on stage used small flashlights as part of the moment. We gave out little keychain flashlights to everyone as they walked in and encouraged them to join in that moment. The room was filled with little points of light. They were inexpensive promotional items, but years later people still mention them because they connected the object to a meaningful experience.”
LIGHTING HELPS GUIDE THE EMOTIONAL JOURNEY FROM REFLECTION TO CELEBRATION
Thoughtful lighting follows the arc of worship, shifting from quiet intimacy to celebration. A story is most effective when it is told well, and ministries should be encouraged to think outside the box when considering how to do that. Perhaps a process that’s effective on a typical Sunday may need to be adjusted for an event like Easter that’s more visitor-heavy. It’s also possible that something geared to arrest the attention of a seeker-heavy audience ends up helping that story come alive in a more powerful way.
This year, The Grove is taking that another step further, using 3D printing and projection to create an immersive, walk-through experience, similar to a museum exhibit, that will allow their congregation to experience Jesus’ last days in a more tangible way leading up to the church’s Easter services.
“In a time when so much visual content is screen based or digitally generated, we wanted to offer something tangible and real,” explained McIntyre. “A physical model, real space, and intentional lighting and sound help ground the Easter story in a way that feels human and embodied.”
While this idea is beyond the realm of typical “set design” and is something that may not feel attainable for many ministries, the key for The Grove is that it’s a way of intentionally drawing a line between the church’s vision and how they want to use creativity and technology to connect that to the people in their community.
Spring-inspired pastel hues and radiant lighting fill the stage with color, reflecting Easter’s spirit of hope and fresh beginnings. Photo courtesy of Seacoast Church
For Grace Family’s Bookhout, That’s the Key Takeaway
“Don’t feel pressure to copy what another church is doing,” he directed other ministries that are exploring creative paths of their own. “Start with your story, your space, and your people. Easter is about hope, life, and renewal. When production choices are made in service of that truth, even simple environments can be powerful. Clarity beats complexity every time, and intentional design always communicates care.”
