With Christmas approaching very fast, churches often have to make a decision as to how and if they should celebrate it, at least as an entire church body. Some churches will opt to do nothing, allowing families to be together, while others may host an event or have a special service dedicated to Jesus’ birth. Whatever the case may be, every church has to come up with a plan and stick to it. If they don’t, congregants are left confused and wondering why Christmas seemed to be neglected altogether. If your church is looking for a good way to celebrate Christmas, you have come to the right place. Here are five unique ways for churches to celebrate Christmas.
#1 – Special Christmas Eve Services
In my own experience, people are more willing to go to a church function on the Eve of Christmas, rather than Christmas day itself. To accommodate this, host a special Christmas Eve service where attendees can bring their family members and hear the Word of God. Most non-Christians are willing to go to a special service if they are visiting friends and family. So, encourage the people in your church to invite people out as part of a tradition of celebrating the Holiday.
#2 – Volunteer Experience
Christmas is a perfect Holiday to care for others. More than likely, there are so many hurting people in your local area; people that couldn’t afford Christmas gifts for their children or even have a good meal. Gather up people from your church and volunteer at a soup kitchen, hand out Christmas gifts at a shelter, or open up the doors to the church and host a great meal for the community.
#3 – Host a Meal
If your church has the space and resources, host a huge meal for anybody in the community to come to. If you don’t have the room or resources, try raising money before Christmas and rent out a hall within the community. Make sure to advertise around the town, specifically for families who cannot afford a special meal. To add something extra to this time, if you can gather age-specific gifts and wrap them, you can then hand them out to kids during this celebration. And, while people are attending, it’s a great idea to share the gospel. You don’t have to have a full, 45-minute sermon—just something that lets everybody know what Christmas is truly about (Jesus).
#4 – Encourage Families to Reach Out Individually
Here’s an idea—do nothing. I know, that sounds weird. But, the church is not required to host an event or do something special for every holiday. Sometimes, it’s great just to encourage families to spend quality time together and reach out to those around them, whether that’s friends or other relatives. Additionally, doing this lessens any type of pressure or burnout that church staff members or pastors may be feeling. Since they are often required to be at most church events, this would free up their Christmas and gives them some much-needed rest and family time.
#5 – Social Media Blitz
Every church should be utilizing social media. During Christmas time, it can be the perfect opportunity to start a hashtag campaign (#thisisanexample) or something similar. People within the church will then post stuff with that hashtag, spreading it around the social media world. There are numerous ideas that you can come up with. For example, you could encourage the congregation to make all of their posts relate to the true meaning of Christmas. If possible, make a great video that people can spread around, too. Videos are often shared and engaged with more than anything else in the social media world. What is the point of all this? For starters, it can present the gospel to thousands upon thousands of people, without doing too much work. I’d say that’s worth it!
Conclusion
No matter what your church decides to do for Christmas, the important thing is to make it about the first six letters—C.H.R.I.S.T. Without Christ, there could be no Christmas. Whether you’re volunteering somewhere, hosting a meal, putting on an event, or just encouraging people to spend time with family and reach out to their neighborhood—all of it should be done for the glory of God. If it’s not, it’s just empty noise (read 1 Corinthians 13 for more on that!). So, what is your church doing this Christmas?
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