Church Skits & Plays
An Easter skit for a small churchAttendance Today3 actors · 5 min

Easter · 3 actors · 5 minutes · Adults (Earl ideally older)

Attendance Today

Ten minutes before the Easter service, the old attendance board in a small church says nineteen, and the deacon wants that row taken down before anyone new walks in, but the treasurer has put up the true number for forty-three years. A warm, funny Easter skit for three adults that opens the service.

$8USD, tax included
  • Instant PDF download, yours to keep
  • Performance rights for your whole church
  • 30-day refund if it doesn’t fit your church
Running time5 minutes
Cast3 roles · Adults (Earl ideally older)
PrepRead from the script, with one rehearsal. Every line hides in a prop: Earl’s in the lid of the number box, Marsha’s and the Visitor’s in the bulletins.
Best forEaster Sunday morning in a small church, at the very start of the service, right before the first hymn; Easter program
ScriptureMark 16:1–9; John 20:19 (KJV)
ThemeThe risen Jesus didn’t wait for a full house. In Mark, the first people to hear “He is risen” were three frightened women; in John, that same evening, He came and stood among His frightened disciples behind a shut door.
FormatPrintable PDF

About the skit

Ten minutes before the Easter service, Marsha’s clicker says nineteen, and Earl hangs a 1 and a 9 on the old attendance board. Marsha wants that row down, just for today: last Easter they had forty-one, and somebody new might walk in. Earl has put up the true number for forty-three years, the Sunday of the ice storm included. Besides, he’s down to a single two.

Then somebody new does walk in: a visitor who has driven past every Sunday for a year and picked Easter to get lost in a big crowd. (How’s that working out? Not great.) When the Visitor asks what the nineteen means, Earl answers like a treasurer reading a ledger, with the morning count from Mark 16 and the evening count from John 20:19. And the last 2 in his box turns out to matter.

It’s written to open Easter morning in a small church and hands straight over to “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.” Three adults and one rehearsal, with every line tucked inside a prop. The staging notes cover building the board, why its numbers are a story and not your real attendance, and keeping the skit from pitying any church, small or big.

Read the first page

(EARL sorts through the box of numbers. MARSHA comes up the aisle with the bulletins and her tally counter.)

EARL: (not looking up from the box) How many?

MARSHA: (checking the counter) Nineteen.

EARL: You don't need a clicker for nineteen.

MARSHA: I like the clicker.

(EARL hangs a 1 and a 9 in the ATTENDANCE TODAY row.)

MARSHA: Earl. Not today.

EARL: It's Sunday. The numbers go up on Sunday.

MARSHA: It's Easter. Last Easter we had forty-one.

EARL: Last Easter the Pruitts brought both sets of grandparents and an exchange student.

MARSHA: Today's the one Sunday somebody new might walk in. I don't want the first thing they see to be "nineteen."

EARL: It is nineteen.

MARSHA: Take the row down. Just for today. Put it back next week.

EARL: The board doesn't lie, Marsha.

MARSHA: It doesn't have to shout, either.

EARL: Forty-three years I've put up the true number. The Sunday of the ice storm, I put up three.

MARSHA: You, me and Dot at the organ.

EARL: Offering was eleven dollars.

MARSHA: Nine of it was yours.

EARL: And I put it up.

The script continues in the full PDF.

Characters

  • Earl, the church treasurer, who has changed the numbers every Sunday for forty-three years; dry and exact; can be Pearl
  • Marsha, a deacon and Earl’s friend just as long; warm, quick and set on Easter looking good; can be Marshall
  • The Visitor, has driven past the church every Sunday for a year; polite and a little awkward; a man or a woman

Props

  • An attendance board, real or made from a 30-by-40 foam board
  • Number cards at least 8 inches tall
  • A small box with a hinged lid, holding exactly one 2
  • An usher’s tally counter
  • A stack of bulletins
  • Two Reserved seats in the front pew, with a hymnal

What you get

  • The full script with stage directions
  • Cast list, props list and simple staging notes
  • Four discussion questions for a small group, youth group or Sunday school class
  • Performance rights for your church: perform it as often as you like and print copies for your cast

Performance rights

One purchase covers one church or ministry. Perform it as many times as you like, make copies for everyone in the cast and crew, adapt the lines and include it in your livestream. Please don’t resell the script or share the file publicly. Read the full license.

More for your Easter program

Questions

Can I change the names or lines?

Yes. Change names and genders, trim lines for time or adapt a joke for your church. The script is yours to fit to your people.

Can we record and stream the performance?

Yes. You can include it in your livestream and post the recording on your church’s own channels.

How do I get the file after I buy?

Right after checkout you get a download link on the confirmation page and by email. It works for up to 20 downloads, and each copy is marked with your order so it stays licensed to your church.

Who is the seller on my receipt?

Payments are processed by Link, Stripe’s checkout, which acts as the reseller. Your card statement shows LINK.COM* CHURCHSKITS. Questions about the script itself come to us at hello@churchskits.org.

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