Society has changed, and we noticed it. At Christmas, we get this bump in attendance that we didn’t have over the 36 years I had been pastoring. I wasn’t planning for it, and so I wasn’t prepared for it. As pastors, we need to learn to maximize the realities we face during Christmas. We’ve done so many things like advent calendars and musical dramas. But when you’re putting on an event, you don’t have the opportunity to reach hearts. This led us to brainstorming how we could maximize the Christmas season. Here’s what we discovered: Capturing hearts at Christmas…
1. Starts with a relevant CHRISTMAS SERIES. We have to talk about something that people really care about. This year, we’re going to talk about all the confusion in the world, the depression, the anxiety, and that the song God had the angels sing the night Christ was born is the answer to it all. Now, who among us doesn’t fight stress, anxiety, and pressure at Christmas? It’s a topic everyone can relate to and learn from if we present Jesus as the remedy to the problem.
2. Is enhanced by planning for CONTINUITY. Rather than holding a big Christmas event, we make it a special season. That’s our goal. Christmas, for us, is longer than one month. We have a special service where we share stories of congregation members and have special music. That is the kickoff to our Christmas season, and it starts right around Thanksgiving. Then we hold a special lighting of the nativity and community event on a Wednesday night to kick off December. We have a short service together, we go outside for hot cocoa and cookies and live music, and then we light up our entire campus. It’s fun! Families love it. Our grandkids love it.
We give our community things to do with their friends or families that point to Jesus all throughout the Christmas season. Every Sunday we have something special. We have hot cocoa. We have caroling around the church. We’ve brought in a petting zoo and snow because we don’t get snow often in South Texas. We have a Christmas concert. We have a “Kids’ Christmas” that involves all of our children. And we cap it off with our Christmas Eve candlelight service. It’s become a special tradition for a lot of our families. Utilizing the whole month to create opportunities for people to make memories celebrating Jesus has become really special to us the last several years.
Now, I understand that we all have different budgets, but pastor, don’t throw your whole budget into one day. Think about how you can create an experience that flows all month long and carries your congregation into the new year. Start with determining a Christmas message series. Pray for God to give you one that will get people excited about what’s happening over the season. Then create continuity. Do this early because you have time, and you won’t have time once the season kicks off! And then make it your mission to include your children in whatever it is that you do. People will show up to see who? Their children! Their grandchildren!
3. Is multiplied by Involving CHILDREN. A few Christmas Eves ago, we had a little boy recite Psalm 150 before our drummer boy performance. It is always such a precious thing to watch, and our church family loves it. But this particular year, this little six-year-old boy with a bow tie stepped into the spotlight and with his microphone declared Psalm 150 from memory with passion. And at the end he shouted, “Let everything that has bread, praise the Lord!” Our Creative Director, Mikayela Lerma, said she’d never seen people jump so quickly to their feet. It was powerful! Later on, she saw the little boy, and he was beaming. He came up to her and said, “Miss Micki, are you proud of me?” She said, “Ellington, I’m so proud of you!” And he said, “I played my best for Him, just like the drummer boy song says.” That response right there is such a good reminder of why we do what we do. When adults see that kind of passion and childlike faith, it stirs something in them. It helps the Holy Spirit move on every heart and lets the wonder of children lead them back to the wonder of Christ’s birth in the manger.
Now, pastor, I get it. You’re thinking, “Yeah, but I don’t have a pastoral staff to pull this all off.” Here’s what I’ve learned: You can find volunteers to help you. God put gifts in people. The moment you want to do something, there are going to be people around you who can do what you could never do alone, and they’re going to make the whole experience of Christmas so much better. It’s all about community anyway. And make sure that when these people do their work, you brag on them because everybody wants to be a part of a community where people brag on each other.
Is carried on through VISION CASTING. We’re going to let people know that January is going to be amazing. For us, we’re going into a 100 days of prayer. We’re having Wednesday nights where people can learn how to pray. We’re celebrating what the presence of God can mean in people’s lives. The theme for 2026 is going to be “Strong Roots, Great Fruit.” We’re going to teach through some epistles and talk authentically about how to connect with God in a transformative way. Take time to get your people ready to create something that will bring more people back to church after Christmas for permanent spiritual growth in January. It’s more important than if you have a big Christmas production or not. Ask yourself these three questions:
– How am I building opportunities to celebrate Jesus well?
– How am I creating opportunities for people to bring and make memories with family and friends?
– How am I giving people an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with others?
I believe that if we’ll keep those three question in mind, whatever season of church life you’re in, I believe you’ll see a great move of God over the Christmas season.
This is one of the biggest lessons I learned as a pastor because I used to try to motivate people. Now I purposely try to bless people, not motivate them. We always want to be blessed, right? We don’t always want to be motivated. When God was dealing with me about that, He spoke to me that “what you appreciate will appreciate.” So if you appreciate generosity in your services, generosity will appreciate in your congregation. If you appreciate creativity in your services, creativity will appreciate your congregation. If you appreciate what it means to be loving and accepting, then you’ll see that appreciate in your congregation.
Pastor, we can’t build the church. Jesus didn’t tell us to build it. He said, “I’ll build My church, and the gates of hell won’t prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). What we can do is cooperate with Jesus as He’s building His church. Let the Holy Spirit do His work this season by talking to people and bringing together the ideas for Christmas. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to have it all packaged together with a bow. Just let people see who you are this Christmas. Let them feel the deepest part of your heart through your attempt, and just go for it. God will bless your attempt!
This blog was created using content from the webinar Why Christmas Crowds Have Increased and What to Do about It.
