We had our mission area gathering tonight and part of it was me giving a workshop on sharing Christmas with our communities. My topic was…
How do we do Christmas for those outside our church?
At Christmas time 2020, Deacon Nigel and I put Christmas posters in the windows of Allhallowgate telling the community the story in Covid time. Someone from church said “you’ve put them the wrong way round. We can’t see them.” The next year nativity figures were put in the windows. Mary’s backside with Gift Aid 25p on it was facing the street. The figures were for the church to see. This year – alleluia – the figures are facing the street!
We can easily tell the Christmas story to ourselves or just do fripperies. In a church I had which had a community carol thing I was told “don’t read out of the Bible. We don’t want to put people off!”
If incarnation took place in the world we need to share this story with the world and in the world. We have people who will come to church or go to a nativity play and this will be their only interaction with church all year. I worked in an office with a girl who told me she was a regular churchgoer. By that she meant Christmas Eve.
So how well do we know the story? Where do you start?
What for you is the key message to share this Christmas to your part of the world as it is in December 2025? How is your church letting people know Jesus is coming?
So a checklist -
Have you posters up outside your church advertising your services? Are they in magazines which go through doors? Have you leafleted the local area with a card giving Christmas greetings from your church?
Do you take time to go to non church Christmas events and have conversations?
Are we providing different contexts for people to engage with the story?
From my December diary:
A riotous evening last Friday with the local scouts and cubs and beavers.
Several nursing home services allowing those with dementia to sing old carols to old words.
Parents who rarely come into the village church are there next week for a school carol service and a youth club nativity. What message will I give at them?
A Blue Christmas service for my bereavement café people who don’t want to do Christmas but need to hear of being loved this year.
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A final thought from the Advent book I’ve been reading - how do we remember and live as though this story matters?
“Advent and Christmas could be a time for courageous protest. There is, is there not, a protest of sorts at the heart of the Christmas story. We see God breaking into human history in the demonstration of gentle rebellion against the ways of the world. While the world tears itself apart in violence and hatred, God asserts his love for creation by becoming incarnate.
While the world seeks the ways of wealth and influence, God is born in a humble stable, upholding the way of vulnerability and weakness. While kings and governors seek to rule with power, God follows the path of service and self-giving.
I love the lights and tinsel, the nativity plays, and the gifts under the tree as much as the next person. These are good things for us to enjoy, but let us never forget the real story of Christmas is about a divine protest that also issues a challenge, asking how we too will participate and join the demonstration.
Advent and Christmas urge us to consider what needs to change and what it is that prevents us from playing our part and joining the dance of rebellion against the status quo in favour of a transformed and better future. It's with small changes, we confront our fears and challenge our instinct for self-preservation. In those changes we make,God's promise is glimpsed, a better future is seen, and we live it in the present moment.”
I hope the people who came at least thought about Christmas being outwards in the world not a holy huddle. Here’s hoping!
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