THINKING ABOUT CHRISTMAS? 

Good! So are a lot of folks who may not be regular church-goers. They’ve got to do their shopping, decorate their home, attend the office party, arrange for holiday travel or meals, etc. But taking the time to visit a church service may not be high on their agenda. What can we do to interest them?  Here are some ideas. 

• Start with prayer. In fact, there’s no need to start without prayer.
• Think “relationships” more than “programs.” Yes, you need some special programs during the season, but folks will attend because we have built a friendship that can support a kind invitation.
• Raise community awareness of the church. Use mailers, door-hangers, posters, e-mail/website, banners on the church lawn, business cards – letting people know the church is there for them.
• If you’re having a children’s program, send “engraved invitations” to non-attending parents, grandparents, or friends.
• What about a Christmas Dinner on the Sunday before Christmas, with special invitations to those who visited the church during the year, but haven’t been back in a while?
• Don’t neglect the Christmas Eve candlelight service. That’s at least one time nominal Christians and non-church attenders can be effectively invited to the church. Try not to plan this service primarily for your own members in terms of time and so on. Think rather about what might encourage non-attenders to participate.
• This suggests that genuine outreach during the Christmas season will require some attitudinal adjustments of members.  We are busy, too. And we will have family coming in, or places to go. To engage in effective relational evangelism in this hectic season will require a faithful re-prioritizing of our own lives in light of the desire to reach new people for Christ, and then to be in a position to host them graciously, should they actually show up!

In this vein, another thing to focus on in this season is that it’s essential toprovide a warm and welcoming atmosphere for worship guests, to obtain contact information from them (if they will complete a pew pad registration), and to make intentional plans for following up with them after Christmas. Your best opportunity to add new members in the church is to establish meaningful relationships with your worship guests!