Westserve

Rethinking Christmas and church

Christmas and Christianity do sort of belong together. At least that’s what we Christians reckon. So we evangelical Christians like to make the most of the opportunity to do things that might give us the chance to share that connection with the community around us.

But what is the best way to do that? And how do we measure the response from the local community? It is by the number of new Christians we see springing up after our Carols event? Is it by the number of visitors we have at our Christmas church meetings? Or the number that might hang around for a few weeks into the new year? Or none of those things…

Christmas is unique in our culture. While not the most important Christians festival of the year, it is the one with most credibility with the community at large. We can actually get away with looking happy and joyful and celebrating the event, rather than being our usual dour selves as we mumble about the need for salvation for a world rapidly going down the toilet.
But you may think that the last thing we want to be concerned about is next year’s Christmas activities, but in fact this is the best time. Whichever church meeting you go to, make some notes about what we could/should do better next Christmas, and in the meantime, go read this article on Sydneyanglicans.net, and consider following through in the forum discussion there.
Then, summarise all your notes and ideas and be prepared to share them when Christmas 2007 preparations begin.

With a whole new staff at TAC in 2007 and a fresh vision for ministry, Christmas 2007 at TAC could be…