Less than 30 days till Christmas! If you haven't pulled together an editorial calendar for social media to bring attention to all of the Advent and Christmas activities that your church offers, it's time to get 'em done right now!
The Christmas season is a great time to connect with your congregation and gain visibility for your church's ministries. Video is a great way to do this! It's personal, engaging, and shareable.
Here are 12 ideas for social media videos you can create to promote Christmas at your church.
1. Christmas Quiz
People love quizzes. You can ask esoteric questions about Christmas or your church and have a countdown timer for 3-4 seconds before you reveal each answer. Don't set the timer too long; otherwise, people will scroll on by.
2. Spot the Difference
Another variation would be to do side-by-side illustrations, asking people to find the ## differences between them with a timer. Perfect examples: Christmas tree, Christmas dinner spread on the dining table, nativity scene, old wise men portraits, etc. “Can you find the ## differences?” And then reveal all of the places where there were differences after a couple of seconds. These work since people stop the scroll and work on it and say till the end to find out the answer.
3. Adults Lip-Syncing Kids
Always a crowd pleaser, you can interview some of the kids in your community and ask them questions about Christmas, Jesus, the Christmas story, etc. And then have adults lip-sync them into a compilation. Kids say the funniest things.
4. A Tour of the Church
Give people who may not have been to your church before a virtual tour of the facility. Focus on any special features or areas that will be used during Christmas services or events.
5. Christmas Carol Karaoke
Get a group of people together and film yourselves singing some classic Christmas carols. This type of video is sure to get people in the holiday spirit! Bloopers are a bonus that you'll undoubtedly have if you try this type of video this season. Share them all!
6. Christmas FAQs
Anticipate any questions or concerns people might have about attending a service at your church and address them head-on in this video. A quick rundown of FAQs would be easy to produce for this type of video. Want to have fun? Try to create a list of questions no one would ever ask about Christmas services, and make a humorous version.
7. Meet the Church Staff
Put faces to names and give your congregation a chance to get to know the friendly faces they'll see on Sunday mornings.
8. Service Promo
If you have any special guests or performances planned for Christmas, shoot a short promo video to generate excitement leading up to the event. Do you have any announcement videos used in services leading up to your Christmas Eve or Christmas Day worship services? Be sure to use them at the end when you are editing your videos, or use SermonShots to create abbreviated versions perfect for social media.
9. A Look Back at 2022
Take some time to reflect on all that God has done in and through your church in 2022. This could be an emotional video that would capture the heart of your congregation leading into the new year. Or it could be a fun, light-hearted one.
10. A Prayer for 2023
End with a powerful prayer over your congregation as they head into 2023! This would be a great way to close out any social media videos you release during the holidays. Make sure to invite them to join you at church for Christmas services, in person or online.
11. A Message from the Pastor
Use this opportunity to talk about what the Christmas season means to you personally as a pastor or church leader. You can talk about your own Christmas traditions when you were growing up or how you came to understand the fuller meaning of Christma — and why it's vital to celebrate Jesus' birth. Heartfelt and authentic always works. Be honest. Be real.
12. A Day in the Life of a Pastor
This could be a fun, light-hearted video that gives your congregation a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like to be a pastor during the season leading up to Christmas services. You could show them preparing sermon illustrations, meeting with church staff, decorating the sanctuary, etc. This could be inspiring, humorous, or surprising in tone.
These are just 12 ideas for social media videos you can create to promote Christmas at your church!
If you're feeling stuck, try thinking outside the box and coming up with something truly unique to your church body and community.
Whatever you do, make sure your videos are creative, engaging, and most importantly,. . . Christ-centered!
