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Next to a fire or a scandal, the best way to attract attention to your church is to put on a really good show. And a good pageant or concert is a lot likelier to bring your neighbors into your church than other attention-getters.

Many churches offer modest Easter and Christmas concerts, mostly for their own members, but some churches are hiring professionals to help them put on more ambitious productions to attract people in the community to church, where they can hear the gospel message.

Whether your church—and corresponding budget—is big or small, there are lots of options for doing special programs, from doing one with 100 percent volunteers to hiring the whole thing out.

For example, Willow Creek Community Church, near Chicago, puts on pageants at Easter and Christmas that attract 30,000 to 40,000 people. Much of the work that goes into those services is done by volunteers. Some work is directed by staff people, however. "Items like sound, lighting, and sets may have some point people on staff," says Bob Gordon, communications director of Willow Creek Church.

That's a key factor. Putting on pageants the size of Willow Creek's is beyond the scope of many churches because most don't have the kind of full-time paid staffers that Willow Creek Church has to direct volunteers.

For example, Willow Creek has a full-time director of drama, who helps shape the Christmas program. With members numbering more than 4,000 and weekend worship attenders of up to 17,000, Willow Creek can afford to pay for that kind of talent.

Another large church, First Assembly of God Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, puts on huge Christmas and Easter programs. Ken Beach, a paid staffer who serves as minister of drama at the church, directs more than 500 volunteers in the pageants, while trained volunteers build sets and run the sound board. With church membership numbering 3,600, the volunteer pool at First Assembly is deep.

First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is so known for its extravagant Christmas pageants that tickets for them usually sell out in advance. Everything from computerized ticket sales to on-stage roles are done by 1,400 volunteers. That number does not include the hundreds of children who sing in the program. At First Baptist, everyone, even pageant coordinator Sandy Casteel, is a volunteer. The church of 6,000 families has a paid music staff, however.

Even with volunteer labor, big productions don't come cheap. Most churches are reluctant to discuss dollar figures, but Casteel at First Baptist in Fort Lauderdale does say that when the church started putting on its pageant 14 years ago, its starting budget was $35,000.

Today the church spends $50,000 just to feed volunteers between shows, Casteel says. Makeup runs $6,000 to $7,000 each year. The church has to pay for security because of the location of the shows. And, over the years, the church has learned that contracting out certain tasks, like hanging sets, to professionals is more cost-efficient and safer than asking volunteers to do them.

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