MIAMI– More than 300 people professed faith in Christ during Easter weekend at Elevate Church as the South Florida congregation leveraged prayer, outreach, and strategic planning to maximize every opportunity to share the Gospel.
Including Good Friday services, Elevate Church saw 336 professions of faith during its Easter gatherings, a response pastor Louis Egipciaco said reflects a growing spiritual hunger in the community.
“What stood out to me the most was the response to the gospel invitation,” Egipciaco said. “Including Good Friday, we had about 336 professions of faith. This reveals that our community is hungry for the gospel and the gospel is still the power of God for salvation.”
To accommodate the large crowds and broaden its outreach, Elevate hosted eight services across Easter weekend, intentionally offering gatherings in both English and Spanish.
“Our vision was to create as many opportunities as possible for people to hear the Gospel,” Egipciaco said. “By offering multiple service times, we removed barriers such as space and scheduling, making it easier for individuals and families to attend. Our mission is not to fill our space, but to reach our city, and if that means we must have eight weekend services, then that is what we will do.”
Recognizing the Miami area’s bilingual makeup, the church prioritized accessibility in its Easter strategy.
“As a bilingual city, it was important for us to intentionally serve both English- and Spanish-speaking communities, ensuring the message was accessible to all,” he said.
Preparation for Easter weekend began months in advance. Egipciaco said the church launched the year with six consecutive nights of prayer. “During these six consecutive nights, hundreds of our church members showed up to simply pray for everything God was going to do in 2026,” he said.
Logistically, the church implemented a broad outreach strategy that included mailing 15,000 invitations to area residents, launching social media marketing campaigns, and participating in a major town event on Palm Sunday.
“We had a booth at a major town event where thousands of people attended, and we shared the gospel, prayed over, and invited people from our community to join us for Easter,” Egipciaco said.
The church also intentionally created meaningful Gospel experiences for children throughout the weekend.
“The Gospel was intentionally presented to children in a way that was both engaging and impactful,” Egipciaco said. “The Easter story was brought to life through an interactive play using children as actors, allowing them to experience the message in a memorable way.”
He added that children participated in a hands-on experience by placing their names on the cross and walking through the tomb.
“They understood that Christ died for them and saw firsthand that the tomb was truly empty,” he said.
Executing a weekend of that scale required significant commitment from church staff and volunteers.
“Our staff, leadership team, and volunteers played a vital role in making Easter weekend possible, going above and beyond in every area of service,” Egipciaco said. “Without our amazing volunteers, there is no way possible that we could have pulled this off.”
As new believers begin their faith journey, Elevate Church is focused on discipleship and follow-up through its Next Steps ministry and LifeGroups.
“We have a dedicated team that helps individuals understand their decision and guides them as they begin their new life in Christ,” Egipciaco said.
Those who respond to the Gospel are directed to complete a QR-code-based response form and begin a discipleship pathway that connects them with leaders and small groups.
Reflecting on the weekend’s impact, Egipciaco said the response confirms the openness his church is seeing in the community.
“This kind of response reveals a hunger within our community,” he said. “People are not only attending, but actively engaging, responding, and taking real steps toward faith in Jesus.”
He added, “The harvest is truly plentiful.”
For other churches seeking to maximize outreach opportunities during Easter and similar key moments, Egipciaco encouraged pastors to view the holiday as a strategic Gospel opportunity.
“Easter Sunday is an opportunity to teach the community what Easter is truly about—the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” he said. “I encourage all pastors and churches to take active steps in taking advantage of the holiday to reach their community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
