Four Things to Do Online For Christmas

It seems like eons ago that we celebrated Easter online and millions more people participated in online worship than would ever have shown up on the ground. But it is only eight months from Easter to Christmas and a lot has happened since then. One thing that has happened – the adrenaline rush and the curiosity about how the church will do Easter online has now reduced to the more mundane work of being online week after week. And in general, those big numbers from Easter are much more modest.

But it is now Advent and Christmas is just around the corner. People are once again aware that a church festival somehow overlaps with the cycles of their lives, even if they are not all that religious. Another chance to share the good news about the loving God we meet in Jesus is before us. And with a pandemic and a recession throwing major wrenches in many peoples’ plans and livelihoods, the culture is hungry for good news.

That means that in the next two weeks you have an opportunity to be very intentional about how to include more people in the circle of your congregation’s reach. Do it well and with intentionality and you are likely to help someone encounter Christ and Christ’s church in a new way. Miss this opportunity and something like this will come up at Easter. This may not be a “once in a lifetime” moment, but it is a “twice a year moment.” Good leaders will be alert to that.

How can you make the most of this and help your ministry and its people share the good news? Here are four things every congregation should be doing:

Create and find good Advent and Christmas memes with good news and good theology. These verbal images are powerful ways to gain attention and easy for people to digest as well as share. Post them and teach your people to share and repost them on their own timelines in Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Create a simple post about your Christmas worship online. Make it crisp and visually attractive. Be direct and clear with members of the congregation – they are to share this on their timelines! If you are open to this, consider boosting it with a small budget. $5 a day for 10 days is only $50 – far less than your church paid for a not very effective newspaper ad a few years ago. Don’t over refine the audience – just put it out based on some simple criteria like a given radius from your zip code and let people see it.

Teach people about Watch Parties. If you are live streaming or using a synchronous release platform like Facebook Premiere, having people set up a watch party gives them a chance to invite people they know to participate with them. Since many families are not gathering like they usually do, this is actually a chance for them to attend church online together, even if they can’t open gifts in the same house. People may be very excited to “go to church together,” even those who haven’t been in worship for years.

Follow up with people. If your services are interactive and you can get comments, likes and prayer requests online, you will get a glimpse of some of the people you “meet” over Christmas online. Send them a message and thank them for coming. Invite them to like your congregation’s page and see if there are interests or needs that you can connect with.

These four simple things will cost nothing or almost nothing, but open new channels for people seeing and hearing about Jesus, connecting people to the worship life of the church, and inviting people to participation in the body of Christ.

If you think online ministry is important, you can help your congregation discuss and move forward with Becoming a Hybrid Church. It is accessible and helpful in ways that let people learn and discuss as they wonder about the next chapter in ministry together.

Want help thinking about ministry and strategizing for your congregation's future in these changing times? Dave Daubert is a leading consultant and can talk with you about affordable coaching and consultation for you and your congregation! To set up a time to talk to Dave, click here.