Christmas is an ideal time to attract people into your church
- by hosting Advent activities,
- reaching out into the community, and
- making your church more inviting.
Don’t miss the opportunities to introduce people to Christ this Christmas.
As you celebrate and announce the birth of Christ, don’t forget to also proclaim the resurrection of Christ.
After all, that is the reason Jesus came.
Your church can make an eternal difference in the life of your visitors — if you can help them come back on a regular basis.
In a normal November/December timeframe, several of you are already rehearsing your Christmas musicals, setting dates for your parties, and getting the ball rolling on your community service projects during December.
If you haven’t started, now is the time to begin planning your events to reach the first-time visitor who will come this time of year.
Are you ready for a Christmas increase in first-time church visitors?
A study in the late 1990s showed that three out of four Americans attend church some time during Christmas, and almost 30 percent attend church more frequently during the holidays.
They will be
- family members from out of town,
- people thinking about making a change in the coming year after Christmas,
- seekers longing for the familiarity of Christmas traditions they grew up with,
- curiosity-driven consumers seeking the comforts of beautiful Christmas music
How one church failed its first time Christmas visitors
Don’t be like this church I visited — read here to get some ideas on how to fail your visitors.
A Christmas Eve Tale (My first time visit failure)
This was a disappointing experience.
Even though I was an out of town guest, this church lacked the foresight to connect with any of its guests.
Sloppy music, hard to find, and no one said hello made for an uninviting Christmas experience.
Prepare to receive your Christmas church visitors
Start your preparation with an intentional review of your hospitality systems.
Wise church leaders will do some advance preparation related to hospitality in expectation of new church visitors at Christmas.
A regular review of your systems is a good way to make sure things flow smoothly.
You know that inertia and inefficiency always creep in.
Whether you are
- Senior Pastor
- Head of the Greeter / Ushers.
- The leader of your church hospitality ministry
- Chair of the committee that oversees your church welcome ministry.
Your systems and processes are 1 of at least 4 Variables in Church Hospitality.
Wise hospitality ministry leaders will
- Review their facility navigation
- Review their current facility appearance.
- Review their church visitor follow-up process.
- Review their status of current hospitality ministries
- Review their current church greeter process / volunteers
- Review their process to how they get church visitor contact information.
Doing this kind of review will often reveal a bunch of
- We need to fix this.
- We ought-a
- We should have . . .
Free Church Hospitality Assessment Download
Other Evangelism Coach resources to :
- Ebook: How to Welcome Church Visitors
- Book: Church Greeters 101
- Audio: Church Hospitality Systems Review
- Audio: Cast a vision for Church Hospitality
Read more for your Christmas planning
- Guest Post: Seeing Christmas stories through eyes of ministry
- How to Welcome Visitors During the Christmas Season
10 Devotional Questions about Your Evangelism
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