Service Planning

What to Do with Christmas Sunday

For those of you who haven’t already looked ahead to the end of year calendar, there is something very important to note.  Christmas 2016 falls directly on a Sunday. The big buzz this year around the Creative Team circles is  “What do we do when Christmas falls on a Sunday?”   Though some churches will hold services that are consistent to what they do through out the year, there are others who would like to utilize this opportunity to create a different experience for their members and attendees.  Pastors, worship leaders, creative arts directors and church staff members all seem to be searching for ideas. Those dialogs have lead to many wonderful plans of how to best utilize the Christmas Sunday. Here are just a few ways to creatively celebrate Christmas Sunday.

1. One Service Unified

If you are a church with more than one service time, and could manage overflow, one idea would be to combine two services into one time slot. Let go of your early morning service time and move it later.  If you feel an earlier service would be most desired, bump all your services up or down in time. This would give families and volunteers time to enjoy with their families at home as well as the ability to worship with their church family.

2. Family Style

For churches that normally function with a children’s ministry that operates simultaneously with the adult services, consider having everyone worship together.  Scale down the band and tech team, go with traditional Christmas carols and design the service to be a fun family event.  You could even incorporate a simple reading of the Christmas Story in Matthew.  This could be done over multiple services, or simply in one service time slot.

3. Christmas at Home

If your church has a large Christmas Eve event the night before, one way to celebrate Christmas Sunday would be to hand out “Christmas at Home” bags so that families can engage together by having a Christmas worship time at home. Fill the bag with a Christmas devotion, a craft kit, cookie recipe or maybe even a CD with a few Christmas songs.  Instruct your congregation to take home a bag and enjoy church at home.

4. Church Online

Another option to allowing the congregation to worship at home would be to post an online video that they can access from their computer or smart phones. Upload a video of your pastor giving a short Christmas message; include an invite to return the next Sunday as well as links to music they can listen to and an End of Year giving link.

However your church decides to celebrate Christmas 2016, make the most of it by taking time to pray, plan, organize and communicate.  Utilize this special year to spread the message of Jesus and the Hope He brings. 

KIM PORTER
Music Director / Creative Arts Director
The River Church | Liberty Township, OH
HitTheRiver.com

Kim has been surrounded by music her entire life. She led worship in church settings as a young teenager through her adult years and continues to feel incredibly blessed to do it now as a profession. She has been serving as Worship Leader and Creative Arts Director since 2010 at The River Church in Liberty Township, Ohio. Besides leading the congregation in music each week, Kim also spends time building stage designs, brainstorming sermon illustration ideas and whatever else she can do to keep her creative mind entertained.