Christmas is one of the highest attended days of the church calendar year by both Christians and non-Christians alike, but the weekly challenges of running a church, staff workloads, and tight finances can make planning a creative Christmas experience for worshippers a difficult objective.

It is possible to think creatively for Christmas.

This year, make the decision to pro-actively and creatively source your Christmas services by beginning your prep NOW with these six things in mind:

1. Plan ahead.

Nothing creative will ever happen without planned and organized forethought. Start praying today for the creative direction God wants you to take this Christmas. Get your staff involved early, surround yourself with creative people who can brainstorm ideas with you, and start weeding through the possibilities to find elements that are right for your Christmas service now.

2. Be confident.

Stop focusing on the type of Christmas service the church down the block has put on in the past and instead focus on what your church can do well. God has gifted you and your congregation with unique gifts and abilities to reach the community you serve. Be who you are, and run with that.

3. Tap into the existing creative potential at your church.

There are creative people in your church. You just might have to think outside the box to find them. Do not overlook the youth and young adult demographic in your congregation for undiscovered creative talent. Oftentimes these are the volunteers who have the most time to devote to creative ideas and elements for Christmas.

4. Formulate a central theme for your service.

Will you focus on the character of Mary, or the spiritual hunger of the Shepherds? Will you explain the promises of Messiah from the Old Testament, or keep things focused on the manger? The Christmas story has been told thousands of times. What sets your church’s re-telling apart from the rest is the way in which you share it.

5. Give your team permission to think differently.

Anything done with excellence outside of your church’s regular service routine will naturally cause worshippers to engage. When congregants are engaged, God can speak, and lives are changed. Your primary goal at crafting a Christmas service is to create an experience that fosters engagement and God inspired life-change.

6. Select creative elements for your service that compliment the central theme.

Creative elements need to logically make sense within the context of your service. While it may be tempting, do not use an amazing and inspiring creative element that only kind-of-sort-of fits with the central theme of your service, or hopefully-maybe-somehow highlights the natural gifts and abilities of your church. You want worshippers to be engaged and inspired by creative elements, not confused and distracted by them.

Remember, creative doesn’t have to mean difficult.

Armed with proper planning, confidence, and the creative potential of your church body, you can develop a central theme and build your message with unique creative elements that make sense for your Christmas service.

————————————————————————–

Now that you’ve tackled the prep work for a creative Christmas at your church, you might want to take a look at my post 5 Ways to Creatively Source Your Christmas Service (and 20 Resources to Help Implement Them) to help you select the right creative elements for your Christmas services.