For most churches, Christmas is one of the busiest seasons of the year. Not only are Christmas events in full swing, but because it’s often one of the highest-attended Sundays of the year, outreach and guest preparations are also at their peak. It’s easy for details and planning to get lost in the mix.
Because of this, it’s wise to start early and focus on the end goal. Whether it’s sharing the Gospel, helping people grow in their faith, or even inviting people to be a part of your community, this goal will serve as your anchor and purpose as you plan.
To help you strategize, we’ve identified five major Christmas preparation categories and created checklists for you to use. Hopefully, these will help you to stay on task, stay calm, and stay focused on your mission as Christmas approaches.
1. Focus on Branding
Unlike Easter where there is typically one major service, Christmas often has many moving parts. There may be candlelight Christmas Eve services, special days throughout Advent, choir concerts, and even church-wide parties or fellowships. Because of this, it’s a good idea to create unified graphics and messaging that tie it all to your church.
Here’s how to get started:
- Begin now. Don’t wait until December!
- Start with the design. Ask what you want the overall feel to be and go from there. (Pro Tip: Christmas worship backgrounds, sermon/announcement graphics, social media, etc. are all available in the Amplify Media Module)
- Make sure your logo is on everything you create.
- Craft the messaging to focus on your mission.
- Use your branded designs to get the word out.
2. Prioritize Promotion
Next, promote, promote, promote. There’s no such thing as too many communication avenues when it comes to Christmas. Encourage your members to help and invite as many people as possible.
As always, encourage your church to extend personal invites to friends and family: these are always the most effective!
- Add your branded designs to your church website. Consider creating a Christmas landing page that includes details for each event happening during the Christmas season.
- Start with internal promotion and then move external. Work to contact every member of your church through email, text, in-person announcements, and printed pieces.
- Promote externally by dropping flyers off at local coffee shops or restaurants and placing ads in local newspapers, radio stations, and magazines.
- Utilize social media. Post engaging content on all of your platforms and run targeted ads to reach other people in your area. Encourage your people to like and share!
- Create invite cards for members to pass out to coworkers, neighbors, and friends.
- Rally your volunteers! They will be your mouthpieces in the church and in the community.
3. Recruit Volunteers
The Christmas season is busy for everyone, but delegation is key in ensuring everything runs smoothly. Use this list to make sure you have all of the volunteers you need.
- Be specific with your requests. People are more likely to help when they know what’s expected.
- Assign volunteers to lead different teams (aka delegate!)
- Host a volunteer training to both equip and celebrate your volunteers.
- Communicate and then communicate again. Make sure everyone knows what is happening.
- Make volunteers easily identifiable by providing them with lanyards, nametags, or even shirts to wear during major Christmas events.
4. Think Through Service and Event Details
Keeping your end goal in mind, think through services and events. It’s a good idea to start big and work your way down to the smallest of details. Remember to delegate and use your volunteers!
- Decorate ahead of time. Because it’s Christmas, people want to feel the coziness of the season when they walk into your church.
- Position greeters in parking lots and doorways to welcome visitors and provide assistance where needed.
- Update your information centers with relevant handouts and brochures. Consider creating a special card with information about events coming up in the new year.
- Make sure your children’s area is secure and visible. Adding fun Christmas decorations to this area is an extra touch that goes a long way.
- Double-check all of your technology is set up and is working. This includes everything from your live stream and giving kiosks to check-in areas and soundboard settings.
- Ensure you have multiple avenues set up to collect guest information (QR codes, physical forms, and text systems are all great options).
5. Follow Up
Lastly, the work isn’t done on December 26. Work now to put a follow-up plan in place. This may involve reaching out to first-time guests, celebrating volunteers, and taking a little time to evaluate the different events so you’ll know what worked and what didn’t for next year.
Here are a few follow-up steps to work through:
- Follow-up starts before the service or event is over. Invite guests to fill out information cards and give them clear next steps. Lay out the expectations and invite them to come back.
- Promote your next event.
- Use your ChMS to assign follow-ups to different staff members or volunteers. For example, if a family with young children attended, ask your children’s pastor to reach out and make sure the family knows what your church has for children. Work together to contact every guest!
- Consider sending a survey to volunteers or members to evaluate all that happened in the Christmas season. This is a good way to gather input and data to help drive future decisions.
- Pray! Ask the Lord to continue working in the hearts of those who attended and to do a work only He can do.
Next Steps
Christmas can feel overwhelming, but staying organized and working ahead can help alleviate stress and ensure all the details fall into place. Through it all, be sure to rest, keep your eyes on your mission, and trust that the Lord is ultimately in control. Hopefully, these checklists help you start preparing now for a meaningful Christmas season.
The right ChMS can serve as a ministry partner as you walk through details. It’s a tool that can help simplify things like communication, volunteer sign-ups, follow-up tasks, reporting, and so much more. You can book a demo of Ministry Brands Amplify here.
