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How to Celebrate Christmas During Covid
Christmas this year looks very different for all of us due to the ongoing pandemic. Some churches are still remote, others are meeting at half capacity, and some churches are meeting as normal with extra precautions.
No matter what this year’s Christmas looks like for every church, we all have one thing in common: Christmas is NOT canceled.
Not now. Not ever. Christmas is just being celebrated differently...
A few months ago in our article “The adaptable Church”, we talked about how we’re seeing churches adapt and thrive during COVID. We’re seeing churches embrace technology, and also take a few plays out of the church outreach playbooks from yesteryear.
Here are some ways we can as a church celebrate Christmas during COVID.
1. Create New Christmas Traditions
Christmas traditions are a big deal not only for the church, but for families too. Things like Christmas Cantatas, Candlelight services, or festivals are big opportunities for church outreach. Unfortunately, these traditions may not be feasible due to restrictions or limited volunteers.
Why not create a new Tradition?
Creating a new tradition can bring your church and community together in a way that generates excitement.
You could do something like...
Decorate the church (Griswald Style) and get the whole neighborhood on board. People love Christmas lights, and your church could be the one to spark an entire community to embrace the Christmas Spirit to celebrate the season and provide opportunities to share the gospel with neighbors and all the cars that pass by to explore the winter wonderland.
Wouldn’t it be cool to be known in your town as the church that decided to be a light (literally) in the community? Just a heads up, we recommend LED lights as they use waaaaay less energy.
2.Adopt a local Ministry or Organization
It doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving for your church to give back and serve the community. Take all the time and effort your church would have been putting towards its usual Christmas affair and find a local ministry or organization to adopt this Christmas Season.
This could be a toy drive, homeless outreach, or just any organization that does good throughout your community. Flooding that ministry or organization with volunteers or resources will do 2 things:
- Make an impact that helps lift up your community.
- Show that your church is serious about being the hands and feet of Christ to make a difference. When people see that we’re serious about helping, they will ask questions like “why are you the way that you are”. Unlike Michael Scott...it will be a good thing.
3. Smaller can be better
This pandemic has forced many of us to simplify and rethink why we do what we do. COVID has exposed many ministries that were no longer effective and frankly somewhat antiquated. We’ve seen churches restructure how they’re spending their resources and time, focusing back on their roots of small group discipleship and targeted church outreach.
This simplification and small group mentality could be a fantastic way to get back to the basics of Christmas. We’ve seen church leaders get very strategic and intentional with their ministry outreach. During Christmas time, this could equate to setting aside time for one-on-one Zoom calls, door-to-door Christmas caroling, backyard cookouts, and more!
They say you have strength in numbers... but “a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
4. Don’t just communicate. Connect.
Use the Christmas season as a way to connect with your congregation and community like never before. Social media announcements and sending mass text messages is a great way to communicate with your people... But it’s only 1-way.
Try this:
Create a
form card with Church Connect and give your people the opportunity to respond in mass. It can be something as simple as asking what their favorite Christmas tradition is...or you can use it as an opportunity to take online prayer requests or have a virtual church connection card.
Takeaway
The only thing COVID has changed about Christmas this year is how we celebrate it. We still serve a mighty savior that was born in a manger, lived a perfect life, died for the sins of man, and was risen on the third day. Christmas is the story of the Gospel...and that will never change.