By Tom Cheyney

ROCKING AROUND THE CLOCK FOR

YOUR CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES:

DON’T MISS THIS STRATEGIC DAY FOR EVANGELISM!

ByTom Cheyney

ROCKING AROUND THE CLOCK FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES

With the holidays just in front of us, I want to challenge you to not let the next six weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas come and go without preparing for this key strategic opportunity. This is a unique time when you can touch the unchurched, de-churched, and non-churched individual who during this time of the year seeks a touch from the Incarnational One. Beginning with the days following Thanksgiving and leading up to the pivotal Christmas Eve services, there will be many unreached who will decide to attend a Christmas Eve service somewhere!


This one day (Christmas Eve) is becoming the most strategic opportunity to touch the lives of individuals of all ages. There is a sense that this one service is politically correct for them to get a glimpse of, or touch from, the Holy One in your church.

Let me suggest that we learn how to Rock Around the Clock During our Christmas Eve Services! For this “Key Day of Outreach,” plan early and creatively advertise well in advance of your community event.


Why do I call it a “Key Day of Outreach?” To begin with far too many churches settle for the

mundane and dreary instead of the charged and cheery format for Christmas Eve.

Many churches feel like they “have to do something for the

older folks” so they throw together a service, bring out last year’s sermon, and dust it off for a rerun. The result is planned boredom and manufactured spirituality that lack any reflection of the miraculous and the incarnational.

Christmas Eve is a day when many who very rarely come to

worship will be in attendance. There may be as many as two to four times the normal amount of people you generally have when the church gathers for weekly worship. What does that mean for both preparation and your church’s sense of balance? Think carefully about how God's Spirit may be prompting your regular worshipers to show kindness to all.


WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?Read further …

It is Christmas Eve. The doors are opening at your church and the celebratory crowds begin to rush into the worship center. What are you going to do?


May I offer you a suggestion that this day could be a great day of outreach for you and your staff (hope you got your Christmas shopping done early)?

Instead of checking out early for the holiday, make this a day of impacting your community!

How about offering a menu of Christmas Eve services that are planned for drawing the community and less for your weekly constituents? Even a small church plant could offer at least two different times or styles for the day.


Larger churches could offer various venues and styles. One option to consider is molding a Christmas Eve service that offers three or four forms that seamlessly flow from late afternoon to early evening. The only thing that would change would be those who attend. The flow would include times for reflection and times for departing while a new group of searchers enter to sense the incarnate.


As we get ready for the holidays I wanted to give you some things to consider as you plan future Christmas Eve services:

1. Christmas Eve is the number one time in the year for the un-churched, de-churched, and un-reached individual to come to church.

2. One of the reasons they are searching for a worship experience could be due to brokenness, isolation, or even loneliness.

3. They are searching for that incarnational touch of the Holy One. There is a desire and need for an experience of God’s real presence.


4. Christmas Eve is rapidly becoming the most

popular holiday in the postmodern world. It is a time where young and old alike desire a connection with the Holy God of all creation.

5. It is a day and place where groups of people can connect to God, even if it is just an annual tradition for some.

6. Each time the unchurched connect with you and your church, (if you have prayerfully sought to honor God in this experience) you get another opportunity to impact their lives for Jesus’ sake!


7. Your Christmas Eve services are a

great time to touch the heartstrings of those who are genuinely searching for God and feel more comfortable attending this service than any other offerings you provide throughout the year.

8. It is also an excellent time to reach them by providing a challenging time for their individual reflection and soul searching.

SOME IDEAS THAT COULD BE USED IN CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES

SOME IDEAS THAT COULD BE USED IN YOUR CHRISTMAS EVE

SERVICES Light your worship area in ways that are not

reflective of the usual forms of weekly worship. This is a creative way to send the message that we are here for something different on this day! One service we had in my church was lit only in the middle of the worship center and everything took place in the midst of the people.

Utilize soloist and praise team members to participate in forms that direct the senses of the audience toward the performance of the praise team. This could be done by having progressional singing from the back of the worship area, a singer behind the stage, or a soloist kneeling in reverence.


SERVICES Short dramas could play a big part as well.

About four years ago, we had a worship time that was led in a continuous song that lasted the first half of the service. It had singers telling the story of Christ and Christmas in an Elizabethan format, that the worshipers loved. It was wrapped as a Christmas Tale. It was both musical and verse all wrapped into one offering!

Worship in the round. This is a wonderful experience for a Christmas Eve service! Almost everyone is right up front with the worship leaders. It is close and intimate. By using minimal lighting this is a great experiential feeling as worshipers are drawn close to God.


SERVICES Thrust staging is another way to bring the

worshipers closer to those leading worship. It allows larger groups of leaders to be thrust out into the middle of those worshipping by positioning them in the middle of the attendees.

One church in New Jersey I know uses luminaries and a live nativity on Christmas Eve to create a wonderful experience. They model an old fashion Christmas feeling. This attracts the older individual and draws those with children as well. A sense of family traditions emerges.

Stories of victory and hope are also a great aid in these services. Using those who are experiencing God’s incarnational transformation helps others to sense His invitation as well.


SERVICES Christmas Eve is an excellent time

for testimonies from individuals on the growing strength of their faith. By using the laity in these moments of witnessing, it eliminates the professional feel that sometimes comes from the clergy performing the same service. When a lay person shares what God is doing in his or her life, it is a moment of extreme transparency which draws others to the testimony.

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE IDEAS FOR THE GENERATIONS

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE IDEAS FOR THE GENERATIONS

Teens & Twenty-Somethings: As older teens and young twenty-something's move from a receiving mentality to more of a giving mentality making a strong mission connection for them at Christmas. This is a great way to emphasize self-sacrifice. Twenty-Somethings are attracted to this type of service.

Adults and Seniors: Traditions and informality are a great Christmas Eve motif. For this age group, you might want to consider using the lighting of the Advent candles as a tie in to Christmas Eve.

Church Plants: For younger churches this is a great launch service! More un-churched are coming to this service than at any other time. It is politically correct (for the unchurched) to want a touch from God during the Christmas season.

WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO HAVE A CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE?


Choose:

4:00 PM ____

5:30 PM ____

6:00 PM ____

7:05 PM ____

What are some other options?

Perhaps:

12:05 AM ____

12:30 PM ____

9:30 AM ____

11:30 AM ____


Children-styled worship works well at the 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and then they go to the grandparents house for dinner and the family Christmas Eve celebration time.

Some say that 4 p.m. is too early for those who have to work on Christmas Eve, so perhaps offer a plethora of service times.

7:05 p.m. or 6 p.m.: Seem to be traditional times for older congregations and work well for them.

12:05 a.m. and the late night works well for older teens and young adults.


Multiply the times and multiply the styles - liturgical to reflectional, and every thing in between. Perhaps link them together so they flow from the first to the last. Therefore, various groups connect and disconnect at venues they are comfortable with.

Churches, both large and small, should offer many Christmas Eve services.

REMEMBER: Christmas Eve is a noon to midnight experience for the Lord!

REMEMBER THE IMPORTANCE OF HOSPITALITY AT YOUR SERVICES

THERE IS NO BETTER TIME TO DISPLAY YOUR CHURCH’S

HOSPITALITY THAN DURING YOUR CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES

Refreshments need to be at their best during these services for first time visitors to sense a spirit of celebration. Do not allow it to be the usual, even when it come to refreshments!

There will also be a need for more people than usual to assist with hospitality for these services, so every visitor feels welcomed and a part of the celebration.

Remember to remind your workers that interpersonal relationships are a key during the holidays, and encourage them to make every effort to be a friend to these new worshipers. A good barometer is to add 50% more volunteers to this day’s services.

Work on getting contacts in new ways. Floaters working the guest area and worship area, are a great means of connecting.

Not to sound like an auctioneer, but some sort of a drawing for thoughtful gifts works well to gather names of potential prospects.



It is probably best to offer childcare during all Christmas Eve services and go to the extreme of over-staffing all areas in childcare!

Do things over the top so you make a positive statement to the community about your church.

Make the most of these services so those searching can connect, receive hope, and be drawn to participate in something at your church post-Christmas. Offer hope to all who attend and make worship fun.



Offer a sermon series for the post-holiday season and gear up by inviting visitors to join you for the series.

Don’t scale back your small groups but enhance them - gear up! No Christmas sabbaticals. Taking time off from small groups takes a large draw out of the ministries for your church.

Increase your relational ministries during this time of the year. Look for the searchers during these six weeks of the holiday season, and seek to connect with them in meaningful ways.

Stop having “insider” parties and start focusing on those outside the church! Get the “us” parties off the calendar and plan for including those who are not part of “us.” Transform some of these parties to be ministries to the community and for the community.



Be out and visible in the church parking lot for those coming to your Christmas Eve services. It may be dark, in some places slippery, or snowing. Light it up and make it cheerful. Play some holiday music. Offer cider on the way into the building.

Have your parking lot attendants handoff first time guests to lay leaders, who will guide them into the worship area, and ease their possible discomfort of participating in an unknown place.

Actions like parking valets, sidewalk greeters, and young adults to escort seniors to the door, all make a lasting impact.

Also use your deacons in the vestibule, welcoming and serving. It is the layering of multiple streams of hospitality that can send a message of caring to those who are not regularly part of the ministries.



Christmas Eve services are often crowded. Enlist your ushers to help with seating and adding more chairs if the need arises.

Train all of your Christmas Eve volunteers ahead of time. Get ready for the influx.

Raise up people who have the gift of hospitality and utilize them at this season. Acts of kindness through gifts of hospitality say a lot about your church.

TIPS FOR BUSY PASTORS DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON


Prepare your sermons early so you do not become rushed or appear to be hurried during the holiday.

Be more conversational during this time of the year with early arrivers. People want to see their pastor greeting them and wishing them a Merry Christmas.

Don’t get sidetracked spiritually during this time of year. Keeping spiritually disciplined in the midst of heavy schedules is essential.

Don’t pile on more than you can handle. If you need to say no to invitations, perhaps you could offer other alternatives the first of the year.


Plan for music that visitors and members of your congregation know and love. Don’t ask the people to come on Christmas Eve to be spectators of a musical extravaganza.

Keep the church’s ministry visual and not anonymous. Spiritual victory is the key.

Try empting your schedule of the things you can delegate to others staff members or laity to handle.

This is not a night for members of the congregation to move over resentfully to allow space for the strangers who come.

TIPS FOR BUSY PASTORS DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON!

Plan a one-day holiday prayer retreat where you can get focused again for the new year.

Helps for a one day holiday personal prayer retreat: Set one day (4-6 hours) to get alone with God. Go someplace you will not be interrupted (no

Blackberry or cell phone). Take a Bible, pen, and writing tablet. Read through the book of Acts. Ask God to reveal Himself in the book. Write down impressions, thoughts and insights. Keep the following question in the front of your

mind: Father, what do you want me to do in this coming new year?

Act on what He tells you!

SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES

SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES

Address all people as participants in the worshiping community. Avoid talking to or printing notices that communicate in terms of "insiders" and "outsiders." We all are the recipients of God's welcome of strangers to the manger. Any hint that someone is perceived as an outsider is the same as saying, "No room in the inn!"

Avoid asking people to identify themselves as visitors. For every three people who like that kind of attention, there are thirty who do not.

Don't assume that anyone knows anything! Publish it. Project it. Find some way to tell everyone in words or print where to find it.

Be sure to keep a balance with more familiar carols and hymns if you use new music or songs. There are many lovely anthems where the choir sings something new as the congregation sings something familiar.

SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES!

Communicate clearly that people may take part as completely as they wish or that they may merely watch.

Love all the people just because they are there for this time, this holy night. Forget about wondering and worrying about whether or not they will come back.

Do leave breadcrumbs along the path so that if people want to come again, they know how and when to return. Bulletin notices or a special insert with worship times, how to contact the church office or pastors, and information about the church's distinguishing ministries welcomes participation and sends the right signals.

ROCKING AROUND THE CLOCK FOR

YOUR CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES:

DON’T MISS THIS STRATEGIC DAY FOR EVANGELISM!

ByTom Cheyney

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By Tom Cheyney