Churches across the nation are hoping to draw in worshipers to Easter Sunday services with the growing popularity of helicopter egg drops.
According to The Roys Report, churches all over, megachurches and small, have planned the novelty experience of a helicopter dropping Easter eggs from the sky.
“We’re out in the middle of a rural area, miles from anything civilized,” Pastor Gary Stewart of Beaverdam Baptist Church in Virginia told The Roys Report (TRR). “But we like to think big and trust God for him to give us his vision and endeavors to get engaged in.”
Beaverdam Baptist Church has a weekly attendance of about 250, but when a church member called an experienced helicopter pilot, who was also a friend, the church was able to arrange the large-scale event for free.
“We’re excited to invite people out to have a good time with their kids,” Stewart told The Roys Report. “Everybody who joins us will hear about the true meaning of Easter as we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.”
On average, egg drops cost about $400 to $800, a spokesperson for Platinum Helicopters told The Roys Report. Platinum Helicopters has about half a dozen egg drop events booked this Easter season.
But some are questioning whether the egg drop events are an example of church marketing “taken way too far.”
“Is this an appropriate way to celebrate the true meaning and message of Easter? Are we sending mixed messages?” pastor and theology professor Jeremy Berg said in a blog post.
Author and New Testament professor Scott McKnight also said he saw problems with the novelty egg drops.
“Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus, about the launching of new creation,” he told The Roys Report. “Conflating egg drops with the sacred event of the resurrection pollutes the Gospel message.”
Easter is a significant event for pastors and churches across the country.
In December, a Gallup poll showed that 24 percent of Americans said they “seldom” attend church, but other polls found that Easter Sunday is the highest-attended service for Protestant churches in the year.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Dan Prat
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
