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Unchurched people want to celebrate Christmas, and you can help them. It can be tempting to run a low-key Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service to get a bit of peace and quiet from the seasonal stress. But this is your biggest evangelistic opportunity of the year. Besides, if you design your services with the community in mind, your members will love it too. Especially if their friends come and it changes their lives! Demonstrate God's generosity by going all-out for your visitors this Christmas.
This means making it super friendly to newcomers. Have a clear order of service, explain why you're doing things and when, tell them when to sit down and when to stand up. Perhaps you could even have some recognisable music playing when they arrive and go crazy on decorations to make it feel extra special.
With all the demands on our attention at Christmas, it's unlikely your guests will be able to recall everything that was said or sung during your outreach service. But they may persevere with a very short book about the gospel that they began reading when all the Morcambe and Wise repeats started coming on.
Rescuing Christmas is designed to be given out during your Christmas outreach. It takes the reader on a journey to find a joy that continues through the ups and downs of life—and beyond. Make it extra special by putting a bow around it and give it to them for free.
I know from my own experience of visiting friends' churches that keeping your kids occupied when they don't have their friends and familiar surroundings can demand most of your attention. A few giant colouring posters dotted around the building will keep them entertained during the service and help them make new friends. Or print off and hand out dozens of our free Where's Waddle activity. Play an online version of Where's Waddle now to see what it's like. When their kids are suitably occupied, the parents will have your full attention. Don't forget to provide some colouring pencils too!
It might seem pretty obvious now, but when your church members are all bouncing with the excitement of Christmas we can easily lose sight of the new family who have just sheepishly stepped through the front door. So brief your members before the day and make sure someone greets them within the first 30 seconds they arrive. Give them some good coffee, finish with mulled wine, shower them with mince pies and deck the hall with boughs and holly.
Joe is our Marketing Manager. He lives in South London with his wife and two daughters and is a member at River Church Sutton - part of the Newfrontiers network - where he runs a small group and various outreach activities.
