"Leading Ideas: 10 Ways to Reach Unchurched People at Christmas | Some Old Handbells Became Our Fish and Loaves" from Lewis Center for Church Leadership from The Wesley Theological Seminary of Washington, D.C., United States for Wednesday, November 2, 2016
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10 Ways to Reach Unchurched People at Christmas by Carey Nieuwhof Pastor Carey Nieuwhof says unchurched people want to celebrate Christmas, so there is no better time to connect with friends and neighbors who rarely, if ever, go to church. He offers ten ways your church can be involved in the unique opportunity to reach people at Christmas.
Christmas provides a unique opportunity to reach people who no longer ordinarily attend church. What’s surprising is that many churches don’t really engage the Christmas celebration to make the impact it could. Over the years at our church, the Christmas services win hands-down for both overall attendance and attendance by unchurched people. Although, theologically, Christmas will never be bigger than Easter, practically, our Christmas outreach is always bigger than Easter simply because the culture is paying attention.
The biggest mistake many churches make each Christmas is to hold a quiet Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service for members and leave it at that.
Many Christians lament the culture’s disregard of Christ at Christmas, but I choose to see Christmas as an opportunity. This is no time for the church to be more cynical than the world, which still remembers something is different at Christmas, even if they’re not exactly sure what it is. Our culture pauses for Christmas in a way it pauses for little else throughout the year. TV and film celebrate Christmas in all of its expressions. Almost everyone decorates for it. At Christmas, the Western world comes as close to stopping as it ever does. I’m not sure there’s a better time to connect with friends and neighbors who rarely, if ever, go to church.
The biggest mistake many churches make each Christmas is to hold a quiet Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service for members and leave it at that. That makes Christmas the biggest missed opportunity of the year. Unchurched people want to celebrate Christmas. Here are ten ways your church can help them.
1. Hold multiple services
Not everyone can make it to your one service. Last year, we did five services over two days, December 23 and 24. Yes, those are long work days for staff and volunteers, but you can reap a harvest all year long from that investment.
2. Theme the event around the community, not around your church
For a few years now, we’ve called our Christmas Eve Services “Christmas Eve in Barrie” or “Christmas Eve in Orillia” (the cities in which we serve). Why? My theory is that’s how unchurched people think. They’ll be asking where they can celebrate Christmas in their city. Why shouldn’t your church be the one to help them figure that out? Chances are the URLs for ChristmasInYOURCITY.com are still available. Buy them today.
3. Hand out invitation cards
Make full color cards with details for people to hand to their friends. Last year we tied candy canes to the Instagram-like cards to make them easier to hand out to friends. It’s easier to invite a friend to something like Christmas than to a regular Sunday service.
4. Make posters
A few years ago we experimented with creating really beautiful posters advertising our Christmas Eve services. They popped up all over our cities in places like Starbucks, hockey arenas, community centers, and more.
5. Build a special Christmas website
Don’t just buy the URL address for your city; build a special site. Our team built two new websites last year for our two locations that are devoted only to Christmas Eve using our personalized URL addresses.
6. Use social media
If you don’t have the bandwidth to build fresh websites, do it for free using social media. Create a Facebook event or promoted posts. Use all your social media channels to get the word out. Encourage members to share with their friends. Last year we did a Photo Booth to create some fun Instagram moments with dressed up kids and people holding “Join us for Christmas Eve” signs.
7. Sell (free) tickets
Tickets, even free tickets, help create demand. They have also helped us manage fire code regulations. Eventbrite is an inexpensive and easy solution. Having tickets helps drive decisions and commitments to attending.
8. Love your community
Each year we focus on giving to our community through local food banks, raising money for local partner charities, and serving friends and family. It’s a way of not only giving back, but of capturing a community’s attention at a key time. A few years ago, our efforts made the front page of the local paper. Generosity makes an impression on unchurched people.
9. Invite them back
Every year, without sounding like a commercial (we hope), we invite people back for January. They get a card explaining the new sermon series and dates, times, and locations. We don’t usually have services the Sunday after Christmas, so we let them know that too. But we tell everyone they’re invited for the first Sunday in January. I know sending an invitation can sound basic, but you’re dealing with unchurched people. Unchurched people don’t know they’re invited unless you invite them. So invite them.
10. Plan a call to action
God’s grace is sovereign so God can do anything. But you need to do your part. Don’t let people walk away bored or with a big warm fuzzy. Challenge them. Almost every year, we give people an opportunity to surrender their lives to Jesus, and it’s amazing how many people do. For others, Christmas starts a journey for them that often ends with surrendering their lives to Christ.
Related Resources:
- Add Off-Site Christmas Eve Services This Year by Mack Strange
- Opening Doors on Christmas Eve by Brian Bauknight
- Travelers’ Christmas Eve Service by Jessica Anschutz
Read more.
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Some Old Handbells Became Our Fish and Loaves by Rosario PicardoPastor Rosario Picardo tells how selling two old sets of silver handbells that hadn’t been used for 20 years provided a surprisingly large infusion of cash to a fledgling church plant in an old building. He offers suggestions on how to inventory and sell smaller assets that have outlived their usefulness, but may be worth more than you think.
The reality show Hoarders examines the disease many people have of amassing possessions regardless of their value (or lack of it). Hoarders typically have an exaggerated sense that they will someday need all of that junk, and therefore cannot bring themselves to part with it. The results are heaps of useless possessions, anxiety about decisions related to possessions, a constant need for new space in which to hold or organize all their possessions, dysfunctional spaces in which to live and work, and an irrational compulsion to protect their junk from would-be thieves (or cleaners!).
God provided badly needed cash through some handbells that would never be an asset to our church the way they would be to their new owners.
I’d like to suggest that the local church struggles with hoarding on an organizational level. Sometimes items are kept out of a sense of thriftiness. Other times they are kept out of a sense of nostalgia or reverence for church history. These are legitimate feelings. However, like a house that needs to be cleaned out and reordered once or twice a year to stay congruous to the dynamics of human life, a church that wants to better utilize its spaces must clean house. Often, a church keeps things just because it doesn’t know what it has. Some churches haven’t had a workday in years and don’t have a clue what they have in storage. Every few years, a local church can rent out a dumpster or gather items for a rummage sale, thereby maximizing and repurposing space for ministry.
Once, as bills were mounting up while I tried to restart a young church plant in an old building, I decided to inventory all of the church’s assets, namely the property they owned. As I did so, I came across some old silver handbells. I didn’t realize the value of silver at the time, but a friend shared how valuable the handbells were. I didn’t believe him, so I googled it. I was shocked to learn that the going rate was about 5,000 dollars for a set — and we had two sets!
There was no question we had to sell the bells. They had been stashed away in the balcony, and the church’s handbell choir had ceased to exist 20 years prior, so I knew nobody was going to miss them. I listed both sets on Craigslist, and a traditional church in Kentucky bought them for 8,000 dollars.
God provided badly needed cash through some handbells — handbells that would never be an asset to our church the way they would be to their new owners. And, in case you’re wondering, over the next few years at the church, not one person inquired about those missing handbells.
When consulting with pastors who are strapped for cash and working to restart, I often ask them about their assets and mention the handbells. Many chuckle at the story. One pastor took my advice literally and sold his church’s handbells for 10,000 dollars, revenue that funded his church’s music ministry for well over a year!
Take stock of current small assets. Not every church has sets of old silver handbells lying around. But many churches do have items that have been collecting dust ever since the church moved on to a new way of doing things. Have you inventoried your physical assets lately? Perhaps your church has other old music equipment, candleholders, heavy offering plates, or even furniture it is no longer using that could be sold, even for a small amount. Plus, smaller assets like handbells are a lot easier to liquidate than real property.
Auction off historical items. Sell pieces of your church’s history with sentimental value in an auction to give older parishioners or those whose families have attended the church for generations the chance to own a piece of the church forever. When one small church had to replace a few of its old stained glass panels, they worked with a local glass artist who crafted the stained glass into crosses for small window hangings they then offered for $10 each. This was a great way for the church to recycle the glass and offset some of their costs of replacing the windows, all while giving churchgoers the chance to have a piece of the church in their own homes forever!
Glean annually. Invite those super organizers in your church to “clean house” as an annual routine, and then hold a rummage sale. For greater effect, the congregation can be invited to donate and add their own items to the sale with all the money raised going to a specific mission. This may not bring in large sums of money, but it serves a couple of bonus purposes: first, it can bring together a group of people in the church towards a common goal, and, second, it can free up space for better use inside.
Use online sale sites: Sometimes when a church has outgrown a media or technology item, or anything else they may have initially spent a good amount of money on, the assumption is that no one else will want that “old” item, either. Online sale sites are an easy place to assess the value and get a sale for these items.
This article is excerpted from Rosario Picardo’s book Funding Ministry with Five Loaves and Two Fishes (Abingdon, 2016). Used by permission. The book is available through Cokesbury or Amazon.
Related Resources:
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The Right Question:
Leaders do not need answers. Leaders must have the right questions.
John Wesley had a few simple questions for those who would be leaders of the early Methodist movement:
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Register Now -- "Discovering God's Future for Your Church" Conference and Live Stream is Saturday
November 5, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Eastern, Washington, DC
What next faithful step is God calling your church to take? At the Discovering God's Future for Your Church Conference and Live Stream, you will learn how to discern God's vision for your congregation -- a step-by-step process for considering the strengths, challenges, and people that God has given you both in your church and in your community. Register now. Also, save when you preorder Discovering God's Future for Your Church, a turn-key tool kit that helps your congregation discern and implement God's vision for its future.
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Some Old Handbells Became Our Fish and Loaves by Rosario PicardoPastor Rosario Picardo tells how selling two old sets of silver handbells that hadn’t been used for 20 years provided a surprisingly large infusion of cash to a fledgling church plant in an old building. He offers suggestions on how to inventory and sell smaller assets that have outlived their usefulness, but may be worth more than you think.
The reality show Hoarders examines the disease many people have of amassing possessions regardless of their value (or lack of it). Hoarders typically have an exaggerated sense that they will someday need all of that junk, and therefore cannot bring themselves to part with it. The results are heaps of useless possessions, anxiety about decisions related to possessions, a constant need for new space in which to hold or organize all their possessions, dysfunctional spaces in which to live and work, and an irrational compulsion to protect their junk from would-be thieves (or cleaners!).
God provided badly needed cash through some handbells that would never be an asset to our church the way they would be to their new owners.
I’d like to suggest that the local church struggles with hoarding on an organizational level. Sometimes items are kept out of a sense of thriftiness. Other times they are kept out of a sense of nostalgia or reverence for church history. These are legitimate feelings. However, like a house that needs to be cleaned out and reordered once or twice a year to stay congruous to the dynamics of human life, a church that wants to better utilize its spaces must clean house. Often, a church keeps things just because it doesn’t know what it has. Some churches haven’t had a workday in years and don’t have a clue what they have in storage. Every few years, a local church can rent out a dumpster or gather items for a rummage sale, thereby maximizing and repurposing space for ministry.
Once, as bills were mounting up while I tried to restart a young church plant in an old building, I decided to inventory all of the church’s assets, namely the property they owned. As I did so, I came across some old silver handbells. I didn’t realize the value of silver at the time, but a friend shared how valuable the handbells were. I didn’t believe him, so I googled it. I was shocked to learn that the going rate was about 5,000 dollars for a set — and we had two sets!
There was no question we had to sell the bells. They had been stashed away in the balcony, and the church’s handbell choir had ceased to exist 20 years prior, so I knew nobody was going to miss them. I listed both sets on Craigslist, and a traditional church in Kentucky bought them for 8,000 dollars.
God provided badly needed cash through some handbells — handbells that would never be an asset to our church the way they would be to their new owners. And, in case you’re wondering, over the next few years at the church, not one person inquired about those missing handbells.
When consulting with pastors who are strapped for cash and working to restart, I often ask them about their assets and mention the handbells. Many chuckle at the story. One pastor took my advice literally and sold his church’s handbells for 10,000 dollars, revenue that funded his church’s music ministry for well over a year!
Take stock of current small assets. Not every church has sets of old silver handbells lying around. But many churches do have items that have been collecting dust ever since the church moved on to a new way of doing things. Have you inventoried your physical assets lately? Perhaps your church has other old music equipment, candleholders, heavy offering plates, or even furniture it is no longer using that could be sold, even for a small amount. Plus, smaller assets like handbells are a lot easier to liquidate than real property.
Auction off historical items. Sell pieces of your church’s history with sentimental value in an auction to give older parishioners or those whose families have attended the church for generations the chance to own a piece of the church forever. When one small church had to replace a few of its old stained glass panels, they worked with a local glass artist who crafted the stained glass into crosses for small window hangings they then offered for $10 each. This was a great way for the church to recycle the glass and offset some of their costs of replacing the windows, all while giving churchgoers the chance to have a piece of the church in their own homes forever!
Glean annually. Invite those super organizers in your church to “clean house” as an annual routine, and then hold a rummage sale. For greater effect, the congregation can be invited to donate and add their own items to the sale with all the money raised going to a specific mission. This may not bring in large sums of money, but it serves a couple of bonus purposes: first, it can bring together a group of people in the church towards a common goal, and, second, it can free up space for better use inside.
Use online sale sites: Sometimes when a church has outgrown a media or technology item, or anything else they may have initially spent a good amount of money on, the assumption is that no one else will want that “old” item, either. Online sale sites are an easy place to assess the value and get a sale for these items.
This article is excerpted from Rosario Picardo’s book Funding Ministry with Five Loaves and Two Fishes (Abingdon, 2016). Used by permission. The book is available through Cokesbury or Amazon.
Related Resources:
- Unclutter Your Church by Dottie Escobedo-Frank
- Church Renewal Requires Property Renewal by Gerald W. Keucher
- Sifting Our Inheritance: What to Keep and What to Let Go by Christine Chakoian
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The Right Question:
Leaders do not need answers. Leaders must have the right questions.
John Wesley had a few simple questions for those who would be leaders of the early Methodist movement:
- Have they faith?
- Have they gifts?
- Have they fruit?
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Register Now -- "Discovering God's Future for Your Church" Conference and Live Stream is Saturday
November 5, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Eastern, Washington, DC
What next faithful step is God calling your church to take? At the Discovering God's Future for Your Church Conference and Live Stream, you will learn how to discern God's vision for your congregation -- a step-by-step process for considering the strengths, challenges, and people that God has given you both in your church and in your community. Register now. Also, save when you preorder Discovering God's Future for Your Church, a turn-key tool kit that helps your congregation discern and implement God's vision for its future.
Learn more now.
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Quotable Leadership:
Most of our conflicts and difficulties come from trying to deal with the spiritual and practical aspects of our life separately instead of realizing them as parts of one whole.[Evelyn Underhill]
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Support the Lewis Center with Your Holiday Shopping
Thank you to all who support the mission of the Lewis Center when you shop at Cokesbury.com and Amazon.com. It's easy, and it won't cost you a cent extra. Simply enter the shopping sites though the links below or on churchleadership.com, and the Lewis Center receives a portion of every purchase.
-------
Quotable Leadership:
Most of our conflicts and difficulties come from trying to deal with the spiritual and practical aspects of our life separately instead of realizing them as parts of one whole.[Evelyn Underhill]
-------
Support the Lewis Center with Your Holiday Shopping
Thank you to all who support the mission of the Lewis Center when you shop at Cokesbury.com and Amazon.com. It's easy, and it won't cost you a cent extra. Simply enter the shopping sites though the links below or on churchleadership.com, and the Lewis Center receives a portion of every purchase.
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Editors: Dr. Ann A. Michel and Dr. Lovett H. Weems, Jr.
Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary
Connect with the Lewis Center:
Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary
Connect with the Lewis Center:
Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Wesley Theological Seminary
4500 Massachusetts Avenue NorthWest
Washington, D.C. 20016, United States
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