Christmas, amongst other things, is a fantastic celebration of how God humbled himself to step into our world, to invite us to meet with Him.

Last year the Church of England published statistics identifying Christmas as a time when church attendance booms despite a national decline in people going to church. This is so encouraging, and yet loneliness at this time of year is on the increase. Even this week The Guardian discussed the prevalence of loneliness at Christmas and referencing a pub in Wimbledon that's offering a "free turkey dinner and a pint on Christmas day for anyone who is on their own. No strings, catches, or nonsense".

With Christmas being the prime time to invite people to church this blog explores how we could pass the invitation that we have received from Jesus to our community using your Church website and social media this Christmas.   

How can we invite people this Christmas? 

Traditionally churches have designed and printed a flyer that can go to every home in their area. Faithful members of the congregation deliver them, sometimes even bravely knocking on a door and inviting the occupants to services in person. However, the success of this method of outreach has not been readily quantified and in the 21st Century where digital communication has come to the fore we would like to suggest that there are additional ways to invite people to your services this Christmas.

1) Simple Service Invite

Make use of your service invite (if you have one) and create a digital version of it that you can share with your congregation. This can then be emailed on by them to friends and family so that more people can receive the information that you have created.

2) Consistently publicise your Christmas services and events across your website and social media 

With attendance among non-church goers increasing at Christmas it is essential to consider if your website is warm and inviting and can be accessed by all devices, including smart phones and tablets. Is the website easy to read, visually welcoming, and with a message that encourages everyone to come to church, even if they've never been before?

Facebook and Instagram can also be excellent platforms to publicise what is happening at Christmas. You could upload your invitation, and show photos of events that have happened in previous years. Make sure that your pages are public because then visitors can get a really good feel for what your church is about.

3) Would an email invite help you reach out? 

You could also design an invite to go to people who you have contact with during the year that might be interested in joining you at Christmas (although you should include an "opt out" button somewhere". This could even be the same as your service invite, but you might want to tailor it for specific groups.

With Christmas being a time when people feel alone the church has an ideal opportunity to invite people to encounter the One who fills the inner ache of loneliness and who gives hope in this broken world.

Can we help?

We think Christmas is one of the most important times of year so do not hesitate to get in touch if you'd like help in actioning any of the suggestions we've mentioned (and even those we haven't!) Our team would be happy to hear from you.