At Beyond Church’s Easter Jam, the crowd keeps growing

Easter Jam 2025 marked a milestone for Beyond Church in Griffin. As our fifth Easter Jam, what began years ago with just 120 people in attendance has grown into a vibrant, large-scale community event. This year, we were thrilled — and honestly a little stunned — to welcome approximately 975 people through the gates. That’s more than double the attendance of our Easter Jam in 2024!

Easter Jam is just one of two major ‘JAM’ events we host each year — the other being Jingle Jam, held each December in the lead-up to Christmas. Both are free, family-focused events created to foster connection, celebration, and a clear message of hope. While each event has its own theme and flavour, the heart behind them remains the same: for Beyond to be a church that is FOR Griffin and FOR families.

We believe that families in our community should not only know that Beyond Church exists, but genuinely feel that Griffin is better off because we do. We want to be known not just for what happens on Sundays, but as a church that walks alongside families — celebrating with them, supporting them, and helping them discover joy, purpose, and connection.

Easter Jam 2025 was filled with laughter, fun, and meaningful moments. At the heart of the event was a creative, interactive stage show that shared the story of Easter in a way that was engaging, relatable, and filled with hope. For many families, it may have been the first time they’d heard the message of Easter — and our prayer is that it marks the beginning of something deeper.

Before the show, families enjoyed a wide range of free activities designed to spark joy and encourage play:

• Petting zoo
• Soft play area for under-5s
• Inflatable bubble dome
• Craft stations
• Face painting
• High-energy favourites like the bunny hop sack race, and egg-and-spoon race.

There was a range of food available for families to purchase if they chose.

To wrap up the event, each family received a special gift — our ‘Dinner Dice‘. This practical and fun resource is filled with conversation starters designed to help families reconnect around the dinner table. It’s a simple way we hope the spirit of Easter Jam continues long after the event ends!

None of this would be possible without the heart and hands of our incredible team. Over 70 people gave their time to bring Easter Jam to life — from roles such as letter box drop, kids’ craft preparations, setup, greeting, running kids’ activities, food service, stage roles, pack down, plus many more roles. Our management team each led key areas, helping create a structure that’s sustainable, empowering, and joy-filled. What makes the JAM team so special is that it operates not just as a crew, but as a community within the community, marked by generosity, laughter, and purpose.

Our JAM events are strengthened by the amazing partnerships we’ve built within our community. At Easter Jam, local gym FitStop Murrumba Downs generously ran our physical games, bringing energy and fun to every race. Dad’s Community fired up the BBQ, serving hundreds of sausages with genuine care. At Jingle Jam, Anytime Fitness Griffin partnered with us to run activities, and Green Leaves Early Learning created a beautiful sensory play space for younger children. We’re also grateful to Griffin State School, who continue to support our events by helping us distribute flyers to every student. These partnerships aren’t just practical — they reflect our deeper desire to build a strong sense of community spirit in Griffin. We believe these events are most powerful when the whole community comes together — each part playing a role in creating something that uplifts and unites.

We are extremely grateful that our JAM events can remain free for families to attend. This wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of grants from the LCAQD and the Moreton Bay Regional Council (MBRC). We are so thankful for the grants, as well as to our sponsors for making this year’s events possible:

• Presenting Sponsor: Ray White North Lakes | Mango Hill
• Community Sponsors: FitStop Murrumba Downs and Armitage Electrical

These partners help us create a space where families feel welcomed, seen, and celebrated.

As the leader of Easter Jam, it’s hard to put into words the privilege it is to oversee something that carries such meaning. To see hundreds of families walk through the gates, to hear laughter ringing across the field, to witness connections formed and hope shared — it’s deeply moving.

None of this would be possible without the people who make up Beyond Church. I’m constantly encouraged by the way our church shows up — not just to run an event, but to truly be present for our community. It’s a reflection of the culture that’s been cultivated under the leadership of Lead Pastor Chris Podlich, and I’m so blessed to serve alongside him. Chris has led our church to be the kind of place that’s not just in the community, but truly for the community — and JAM events are a living expression of that vision. The heart of Beyond is to be a church that unchurched people love to engage with, and this inspires how we serve and engage with the community of Griffin.

As we look ahead, our hope is that Easter Jam and Jingle Jam continue to grow — not just as events, but as invitations. Invitations to explore faith. To experience community. And to encounter the hope of Jesus in a way that’s real, lasting, and full of life.

Beyond Easter services: Good Friday service 6pm 18 April and Easter Sunday Service 10am 20 April 2025.