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2 25 Christmas outreach ideas
introBeyond the brightly wrapped gifts exchanged during the holiday, church ministries based in kindness, compassion and generosity truly illustrate to the masses why Jesus was born in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago.
Selfless acts for others—especially those hurting in some way during the holidays—manifest in small yet meaningful ways the powerful message of Jesus’ mission on earth. Christmastime offers believers a chance to teach their communities in a tangible way the real reason for the season.
As we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth Dec. 25, here are 25 proven Christmas outreach ideas from the pages of Outreach magazine. Churches nationwide have used these ideas to reach their communities effectively during the holidays, and we hope they inspire and equip you to do so as well.
The EditorsOutreach Magazine
How has your church reached out at Christmastime? Share your ideas at [email protected].
Stop by your one-stop Christmas church resource center to prepare your church for the holidays with new banners, bulletins and invitations from Outreach Inc.
3 25 Christmas outreach ideas
Compassionate Christmas
1. reduce Consumerism to help OthersAsk your church attendees to buy fewer gifts this year and give the money they save to support the needy around the world. That formula has worked well for others through the ministry Advent Conspiracy, which four churches started in 2006. Since then, the effort has raised nearly $2 million to help the needy across the globe.
Chris Seay, lead pastor of Ecclesia Houston in Texas and co-founder of Advent Conspiracy, says the movement began because pastors grew tired of seeing Christians “digging a hole at Christmas and not a foundation that brings you closer to Christ.”
That motivated Lead Pastor Tim Morey of Life Covenant Church in Torrance, Calif., to have his church participate in the movement. He says he considers “overblown consumerism and materialism” to be major problems.
“People are receptive to this idea that Christmas doesn’t have to be this huge, consumer blowout,” Morey says. “We can use the money we save to benefit those who don’t have much.”
Funds collected have supported orphans in Mozambique and helped people in coun-tries such as India, Nigeria, Liberia and Haiti gain access to clean water.
“It’s been incredible because people have responded in a way that helps reshape their views a little bit,” says John Wagler associate pastor of Commonwealth Chapel in Virginia, which participated in Advent Conspiracy. “We always fight the consumer culture in ministry, and this has allowed people to do that in a tangible way.”
2. adopt a FamilyPartner with a women’s shelter to organize an Adopt-a-Family program. Ask congre-gants to sign up to bring Christmas dinner and gifts to their adopted family.
3. Provide shoe Box Gifts for KidsA simple letter from a 14-year-old girl living in an orphanage in India had a pro-found effect on Kathy David and her family. The girl had received a shoe box gift from the Davids through Operation Christmas Child, a worldwide project of the ministry Samaritan’s Purse, that uses simple, gift-filled boxes to share Christ’s love with children. The David family’s church, First Baptist Church of Atlanta, actively participates in the project.
“The joy she expressed over such everyday items as hair clips, a toothbrush and
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toothpaste, school supplies, candy and a stuffed animal brought us quickly to the real-ity of just how much we have,” David says. “This young girl realized that God had shown His love to her in this very special and simple way. That spurred us on to take on this project with new meaning.”
Today, David serves as her church’s volunteer coordinator for Operation Christmas Child, and her family alone fills 400 shoeboxes annually. This year, Operation Christ-mas Child hopes to surpass 100 million shoe box gifts packed and distributed since 1993, its website states.
"The [model] of missions has changed in the last few years, and this shows our congregation there is more than one way to minister to others and share the Gospel," David says. "It's just a wonderful opportunity to be a missionary.”
4. stuff stockings for Low-income FamiliesTake a cue from Open Air Ministries Philadelphia and partner with other local church-es to distribute overflowing stockings to low-income families in your area.
Open Air invites elementary students the church normally reaches—as well as other families in nearby low-income neighborhoods—to attend the Christmas stocking out-reach. One year recently, nearly 40 churches contributed 2,500 stockings stuffed with toys, candy and children’s Bibles, and volunteered at nine inner-city locations.
“The stocking outreach is a great foot in the door to the community,” says Joe Toy Jr., evangelist and Open Air’s founder. “It gives us a way to meet our neighbors and then discover what other needs they have so that our ministry can enter their homes and become part of their lives.”
Through the Christmas stocking outreach, Open Air has grown its ministry to elementary students, increased attendance at area church plants and fostered relation-ships with several urban and suburban churches.
5. Partner With Local Businesses to help the NeedyAsenaca Collyer, 47, wondered how her family would afford Christmas presents last year, as she was a stay-at-home mom and her husband earned just over minimum wage.
Collyer says her prayers were answered when City Bible Church in Portland, Ore., selected her for its inaugural “Live Love Christmas” gift giveaway, where she picked out a basketball, Lego set, stuffed animal and gift card for her children, ages 4, 6, 12 and 15.
“It really blessed my kids, and I am so grateful for that,” Collyer says. For Live Love Christmas, the church of about 3,500 attendees at four locations
partnered with 20 businesses and organizations to dole out about $45,000 in gifts, refreshments and Christmas trees to 500 low-income parents.
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6. Give Gifts With Lasting impact The World Vision Gift Catalog provides a unique opportunity to embrace the Christ-mas spirit of giving and help struggling families worldwide have basic necessities. During the last three Christmas seasons, children at Pleasant View Baptist Church in Bettendorf, Iowa, have experienced this unique global perspective toward giving by using the World Vision catalog to send animals to needy families around the globe.
“We needed something tangible that they would be excited about giving toward,” says Vanessa Von Thun, a Sunday school teacher with the church. “Kids love animals.”
To add to the experience, Pleasant View uses a 4-inch diameter globe to collect donations. A world map posted in the hallway serves as a visual aid for where the gifts are distributed. Correspondence and photos from thankful recipients are displayed year-round on a bulletin board.
“When the kids learn that sacrificial giving is an act of worship, they become less me-centered and more God-centered,” Von Thun says.
7. Offer a meaningful Photo—and self-EsteemA free Christmas photo shoot for those who would never dream of such an extrava-gance can go a long way in showing good will to others and help them feel special.
Residents of local homeless shelters, drug rehabilitation centers, and children’s homes for abused and neglected kids received free professional photographs of them-selves and much more during Christmas thanks to Reeds Baptist Church in Lexington, N.C., and Help-Portrait, a global movement of photographers using their skills to help those in need.
The special event provided those who were photographed a free meal, some Christ-mas gifts, a Bible—and a boost in self-esteem as they saw their photos, Pastor Dave Williams says.
8. Clothe inner-City residentsSt. David’s Episcopal Church in Radnor, Pa., works year-round to make and collect hats, gloves and scarves for community distribution. At Christmastime, the congrega-tion adds to the “Mitten Tree” located in the narthex. Clothing items are collected and adorn the tree until Christmas, when they are delivered to St. David’s inner-city sister church, St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.
St. Gabriel’s hosts a special service followed by a hot lunch provided by St. David’s and opportunities to select from the donated items.
“Our response each year is so overwhelming,” coordinator Leslie Lewis says. “Now I even have friends contribute food and items who are not even part of the church. It is a great witness.”
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Community ConneCtion
9. serve Neighbors and Local residentsEncourage church attendees to spread a little holiday cheer to their neighbors, friends and others nearby on their own. Suggest that they become a neighborhood secret Santa, and pick a family on their block to send baked treats to throughout December. About a week before Christmas, they can identify themselves with an invitation to a worship service. Or they can enlist friends and neighbors to make no-sew fleece Christmas blankets for nursing home residents or homeless shelters in your area. Or offer thanks to those in a thankless job by giving sanitation workers Christmas stockings stuffed with homemade baked goods.
10. help Celebrate ‘Christmas on a Budget’ Host a communitywide event called “Christmas on a Budget.” Feature money-saving tips, creative do-it-yourself gift solutions (warning: don’t turn the event into a com-mercial for products), and a financial expert who can answer questions about credit card debt. Ask a family who stopped exorbitant Christmas spending to talk about the experience, how they approached it and what they learned.
Along these lines, perhaps also encourage your church to send Christmas e-cards and donate the money they’d normally spend on boxed Christmas cards and postage to a food bank or other organization.
11. Give Kids a special shopping time St. Luke Evangelical Church in Wellington, Mo., hosts Santa’s Secret Workshop, where 100 to 200 local children visit Santa and buy inexpensive gifts for their families.The church partners with a local sorority to acquire nearly 1,000 items and enlists students to help the children secretly select, purchase and wrap the gifts while parents enjoy refreshments in another room.
“The event brings many families to our church that may not come for any other reason,” says Linda Dorsch, event coordinator. “It has become an expected part of what we do.”
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12. Create a Wintry ExperienceChurches can always take the Christmas season as an opportunity to have a little fun and invite the community along. An outdoor snow day could go over especially well in climates that never see a white Christmas.
Hill Country Bible Church Northwest in Austin, Texas, rents 14 snow-making ma-chines that drop fun, festive flakes at planned times during worship. Their five services drew nearly 10,000 people last year.
13. host Christmas Eve in the ParkWorship service attendance soars during Christmas, so why not make room for every-one? Host it at a local park, and liven up the event while you’re at it. The Fellowship of the Cross in Tuscon, Ariz., a network of house churches, held its Christmas Eve service in a local park. The church had glow sticks for all attendees, in addition to hot cocoa, hot apple cider and candy canes.
14. Participate in the Local holiday ParadeSuncoast Community Church in Sarasota, Fla., prepared a float and brought up the rear of their town’s parade, passing out nearly 3,000 bottles of water bearing stickers with the church’s name, logo and worship times.
15. throw an ice-skating PartyRent the local ice rink for a day and offer your community free ice-skating, Christian music, cookies and refreshments. It’s a friendly and nonaggressive way to witness to your city. Living Water Christian Fellowship in Blyth, Ontario, offers a “Free Skate” event like this during the school district’s professional development day in December. “Free Skate is a friendly witness to our community—and a great touch point for us,” Pastor Ernest Dow says.
16. hold a holiday Film FestInvite folks to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Host a holiday film fest, featuring family Christmas movies. Serve homemade Christmas cookies, coffee and hot chocolate.
17. Blanket the streets with a Christmas messageCull together a band of church volunteers and hit the streets, passing out candy canes at-tached to a copy of the Christmas story, as told in Luke 2. Visit your post office, grocery store, bank, etc., and hand them out with a smile and greetings of “Merry Christmas.”
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18. Provide Free Child CareFriday and Saturday nights are prime times for company Christmas parties and holiday shopping. Give parents in your community a safe place to leave their kids by offering free child care. Make sure parents know all volunteers have passed back-ground checks. Organize a craft station where children can create homemade gifts for their families and friends.
19. Bring the Nativity to LifeWhether it’s an elaborate performance or a simple display, almost everyone loves to see the story of Jesus’ birth unfold before their eyes at Christmas.
For the past 14 years, 60-member Sunrise Christian Fellowship in Murrieta, Calif., has put on a 20-minute outdoor dramatic depiction of Jesus’ birth—complete with live goats, sheep and a donkey. Some 500 people attend each year and stay after for coffee and hot chocolate. Church leaders say many people came back for Christmas service as well.
Living Lord Lutheran Church in Bradenton, Fla., creates a more interactive expe-rience by transforming its grounds into Bethlehem circa 2,000 years ago to give its community a sense of what it may have felt like the night Jesus was born. Those who attend can be accounted for in a census, do arts and crafts similar to what Jesus could have done as a child, sample food, follow shepherds to the stable, and hear the angels announce Jesus’ birth.
Elmbrook Church in Elmbrook, Wis., also transports visitors back in time. After viewing a brief film on historical Bethlehem, each of the 35,000 guests travels a “time tunnel” to experience a full-scale, interactive Bethlehem marketplace—complete with live animals, beggars, Roman guards, thieves, shops, foods and a living nativity.
“It’s a very accessible, hands-on and nonthreatening outreach that brings people back,” coordinator Jan Keddie says. “Many people attend Elmbrook as a result of their spiritual experience at the marketplace.”
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honor speCial Groups
20. Commemorate Cancer PatientsThe holidays are tough for families with a seriously ill loved one, but one Missouri church found a way to ease that pain and bring hope and peace during the holidays.That church, ReNew, invited its community to hang ornaments on several color-themed “cancer trees” in the church’s front lobby to honor someone who had died, was currently battling, or had overcome the disease.
Then it held a special service, featuring cancer survivors as guest speakers. Before the service, guests requested ceramic ornaments handwritten with their loved one’s name. As the names were read aloud, participants hung their ornaments on the appro-priate tree.
ReNew ended up with 29 decorated trees displayed throughout its building. The lo-cal paper covered the service, and thousands of drive-by visitors stopped to look at the trees, Pastor Greg Williams says.
“It ended up being a communitywide event and celebration,” he says of the impact. “It met a deep need here, and we quickly became known as a church interested in help-ing others.”
21. Bring Joy to the hospitalThrow a Christmas party for the cancer wing of your local hospital. Bring food, pres-ents and decorations, and carol up and down the halls.
22. Welcome strangers as FriendsInvite recent immigrants in your community to a special Christmas celebration.
Years of political unrest in Myanmar and a devastating cyclone there resulted in a large influx of refugees to the United States, and College Avenue Baptist Church in San Diego responded by mobilizing resources to give the refugees in its community an official “welcome to America” at Christmastime.
The church partnered with a local elementary school and the International Rescue Committee to buy and deliver gifts for the children and groceries for the families.
23. salute active-Duty military and VeteransContact a nearby military base, and ask families in the church to host those men and
10 25 Christmas outreach ideas
women unable to go home over the holidays. To honor the deployed, take an offering to send gift boxes to men and women serv-
ing overseas. Consult a soldier to learn which items to buy.For families still in town, coordinate an adoption program. Have church families
“adopt” military families who are home during the holidays without the service member.
24. Care for the Children of inmatesFamilies with a father or mother serving time in prison often grapple with feelings of discouragement, loneliness and sadness during Christmas. Take it upon your church to comfort them and encourage them.
Work with an organization like Angel Tree to buy presents for the children of prison inmates.
25. host a memorial serviceReach out to those who have lost a loved one in the past year by holding a special Christmas memorial service. Invite people to bring an ornament as a memorial to hang on a Christmas tree. It will offer families a meaningful way to grieve during the Christ-mas season, when memories are sure to flood back.
Regardless of the outreach initiatives you pursue, you will have opportunities to hand out information about your church and share Jesus’ story. A great resource to consider distributing is The Christmas Story, a 32-page booklet that retells the story of Jesus’ birth in a fresh way that connects with modern readers. The booklet and many other resources to help you with your outreach efforts are available at Outreach.com.
For more great ideas at Christmas and year-round, subscribe to Outreach magazine and visit OutreachMagazine.com/ideas.
