Christmas as a whole is a really fun season because it brings out creativity in almost everyone. Whether it’s Christmas recitals, Christmas plays, Christmas art projects, present wrapping, home decorating, or light orchestrating people go all out. Churches often go all out too, and for a good reason, church attendance is higher at Christmas than almost any other time. Churches rationally put their best foot forward when more people are going to be visiting. We recently talked about why being yourself is crucial on our last podcast, “the three things you have to remember when planning your Christmas service,” and we stand by the suggestion, that it’s important to offer something sustainable and true to who you are, not only during the Christmas season but always.
However, the Christmas season does bring with it a lot more opportunities to get involved with your community. There are new guests who might be attending and of course your own church family, who might be more inclined to give or serve during the holidays. With that in mind, we wanted to highlight some of the awesome things that we noticed churches doing during this holiday season. We hope these ideas inspire you to push your own creative bounds. People are looking to be inspired. Specifically, people come to church looking to be inspired. So, inspire them. Offer them a place to meet with and experience God. Create an environment of excellence, so that they can’t help but talk about all that God is doing at your church.
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The 12 Days of Serving via CrossPoint Church
Using the traditional Christmas carol, CrossPoint Church is giving people opportunities to serve for 12 days during this holiday season.
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Old school door hangers via Eastside Community Church
There’s a lot of emphases these days on passing out invite cards or asking your neighbor to church. While no one can deny the power of the “personal ask,” in today’s age a lot of people don’t know their neighbors, and this is a powerful way to quickly impact entire neighborhoods.
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Shoe Drive via Rock City Church
Coat drives, can drives and food drives, a plenty, but a shoe drive is a great twist on an old idea. Shoes can be expensive, and people in need are probably not used to getting a new pair (name brand would further delight them). This idea would surely bless the giver and receiver.
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A Timeless Raffle via Crave Church
Everyone desires to give, but sometimes getting people to give at the right time and the right item can be convoluted. Crave church was raffling a MacBook and Apple Watch with all the proceeds going to missions. Sometimes just a little motivation can rally people behind a great idea as seen here.
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QR code for free coffee as seen by Buckhead Church
The little things spread holiday joy more than anything. Consider posting your own QR code for something free, or do a twist where you encourage your congregants to do this at their own workplaces or on their own accounts with a hashtag that gives our gracious God some glory.
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Lightshow via Westridge Church
Families are always looking for something festive to do during the holiday season. Westridge is hosting a light show throughout December. This is such a fantastic way to get people to your church in the most casual way. Positive, unassuming, church experiences are vital on-ramps for individuals who are unchurched.
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Photobooth Ops via New Life Church
New Life Church hosted a Family Sunday with Photo Ops, which is a great and festive idea. You could take it one step further and have a photo booth in a Family or NextGen space so that people could make memories all year around.
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Welcome and Seasonal Signs via Popsigns
Quickly conveying information and making people feel welcome is an art. Churches have the need to do both as soon as people arrive on their property. Popsigns has fun and kitschy ways of making that happen for an affordable price.
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Handmade Advent Kits for Kids via Grace Church of Glendora
Helping kids understand that Christmas is about more than stuff can be awfully hard to do. These handmade advent kits are too cute, with something special for kids to open each day to point them to the true meaning of Christmas.
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Turkey Bowl via Canyon Hills Church
Student ministries all around are always looking for fun holiday ideas to participate in, consider hosting your own Turkey Bowl, Rose Bowl or some other kind of Bowl and playing flag or touch football on or near Thanksgiving or Christmas.
If you see a church that has a grand idea or is doing good work, don’t be scared to copy it and give them credit. We are all on the same team, and there’s no better time to remember that then at Christmas. If you did something really innovative, tag us or let us know. We love to celebrate all that you are doing! Merry Christmas!