It’s time to dig out the tinsel, the questionable Christmas jumpers and the cheesy Christmas talks – Christmas is on the way, and there’s no better time to show our communities the joy of a life with Jesus! So how can we make Christmas brighter and better for our communities? How can we be joy-bringers and disciple makers? Time to start wrangling the Christmas lights, the giant church tree and a small flock of sheep.
1.Put on the best Christmas Party
Christmas is a great opportunity to show our neighbours that Jesus’ followers know how to have a good time. Rev. Ben Woodfield from New Life church in Bolton goes huge on the Christmas party. The Santa’s Grotto is amazing (with generously donated gifts), the disco is loud, and the food is plentiful. And of course, they share the amazing news of Jesus’ arrival into our lives. A recipe for the best party on the estate!
2. Go big on carols
Almost every church I spoke to said they involve carol singing in their Christmas activities. Carols can be traced back to Roman times (when reading was a rare skill) and are super inclusive because of their catchy tunes, repetitive choruses and lyrics that have been ingrained into our memories through the years. There may not have been just Three Kings, but who can resist the big chorus?
Carols work especially well when they can link into our local culture. At my former church in Bristol, they hold an annual Biker Carol Service. Laura Faturoti takes her carol singers out and about from their London church: to the pub, the community centre and the park. Last year they arrived at the pub to find lots of reserved tables. Laura said, “I was thinking ‘these people have all reserved a table for a lovely pre-Christmas meal and we’re going to ruin it singing carols in their faces’ And then … it dawned on me, they’d reserved those table FOR the carols!”
Zoe Pimentel got a children’s choir going in inner-city Coventry, with action songs and catchy tunes. Giving solos to some of the older girls was great for their self-esteem and all their families would turn out and celebrate at the service. But she offers a word of warning,” The disaster came one year when I introduced children’s hand bells… absolute chaos / total excitement / tears / bells being stolen out of other children’s hands, oh my word!!”
3. Christingle
Every year I wonder at the madness of the Christingle. An orange, with a ribbon, sweets on sticks, and fire. It sounds ridiculous, it is ridiculous, but it works. Add with a mass of children with flammable winter coats, tinsel and long hair, it’s certainly a faith building experience. The best ones involve an adult dressed up as an orange. And if you manage to get the story of God’s love across in the chaos … that’s your first Christmas miracle.
4. Bring on the goats
I live in central Bradford, but last year on Christmas Day a man walked down our street dressed as a shepherd with a goat on a rope. But for many of us in urban areas our only interaction with a farm animal is on our plates. For our inner-city Christmas party last year, a farmer brought sheep, goats and a donkey to hang out outside the church. We then add a few costumes and a manger, and it became a brilliant photo opportunity. There was a talk (featuring a wonderful turkey hat) and some singing, non-alcoholic mulled wine and more mince pies than necessary. Now..where did I put that tea-towel?
5. Christmas Trail
With just 10 pictures and some QR codes you can create a Christmas trail in your local area. Choose wooden chopping boards with holes in the handles to hang in trees, or A1 pieces of card for house or shop windows. Dish them out to the creative people around you to decorate with pictures of the Christmas story characters. Ask a teenager to add a QR code to each one with an audio snippet of the story, and you’ve got a trail ready to go. Ours are hung on trees around the local park (teaming up with another local church), but you could do them in church family windows, or local shops. Link up with your local school for extra impact. Once it’s up, it can be accessed at any point, all you need to remember is to take it down again!
6. Help out the parents
Rev. Jude Smith shared a beautiful idea. She put on a film morning at her church in Leeds, to give parents a chance to wrap up the presents or do some last-minute shopping. Simple, generous, genius.
7. Love your local groups
Find out what is already happening and ask if you can help and support it. Sometimes we re-invent the wheel, instead we can reduce everyone’s workload by teaming up with local churches and organisations. Similarly, often there are local groups, radio stations or businesses giving out gifts for low-income families. Can you link them with children and families you know?
8. Make time for Jesus
Amidst all the tinsel and parties and turkey hats and stress, it can be hard to find space to kneel ourselves before the manger and worship the King. Jesus is at the parties, he’s there amongst the mayhem, and he’s there when we are exhausted, run down and anxious. Diarise your days off in the run up to Christmas early. Ask Jesus, how can I create space to live and model healthy relationship with you, even in December?
Sarah Hinton from West Bowling in Bradford told me that for those of us with children it’s important to create space for our own Christmas traditions like putting up the tree together to show our families that we aren’t too busy to make memories with them too.
And of course, there are many who find Christmas a painful reminder of the loved ones they are missing, or the struggles that are there throughout the year. Can we create spaces for them too? Creative activities can provide space for reflection and helpful conversations. At Sarah’s church their craft groups have made candles and even folded old books into beautiful Christmas sculptures. Making Christmas decorations as a church family is another suggestion from Sarah, building the story throughout December and adding them to your tree at home.
In amongst the goats, the mince pies and the turkey hats Jesus is at work. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to bring joy, connection, and a deeper sense of community to those around us at Christmas. As churches we are uniquely placed to create spaces where people feel valued, welcomed and loved by their Father, who demonstrated that love by sending Jesus to live in amongst us. Here’s to a Christmas that truly sparkles with the light of His presence!