Statistically Christmas is one of the highest-attended worship services of the year. It often brings those that attend infrequently, those that only attend on Christmas and Easter, the regular attenders, guests and family of regular attenders, and some seekers from the community. With some simple and easy strategies, that attendance can grow exponentially.  Here are three ways to increase your church’s Christmas Eve Service(s) attendance.

Invite the Community

While this might sound silly, not everyone in your community knows they are invited and welcome to attend your Christmas Eve services. Consider placing a special roadside banner in the church lawn. Ask church leaders to place invitational lawn signs in their respective lawns. Send out direct mail postcards to your neighbors.  Place door hangers in your neighborhood.  Post on social media and event sites. The invitation should include date, time, and that all are welcome. Consider including a background picture that denotes the theme, style, or focus of the service and what is available for children. Ensure the invitation is both intentional and authentic with relatable, non-churchy messaging.

Convenient Time

Often the Christmas Eve service time is set based on tradition. (i.e., “We always have our Christmas Eve service at 7:00 pm on Christmas Eve.”)  Consider the best time for not only your existing people, but more importantly for those you are trying to reach. Over the past few years, we are seeing a shift to service times being held earlier in the day as extended families are gathering in the evenings. People often travel on Christmas Eve, so some are even offering Christmas Eve services on December 23rd or the morning of the 24th. This is a time to listen to the greater community and plan accordingly.

Invite People on the Fringe

With worship attendance frequency continuing to decline, this is an important time of year to intentionally invite people who are at the fringes of your congregation. This would include infrequent attenders, attendees/members who have stopped coming, guests who have visited in the past six months, and people who participate in church ministries (food pantry, diaper bank, community dinner, etc.).  Send a postcard invitation. Have some church leaders with the gift of relationships and hospitality call them. The invitations should be friendly and compassionate without any shed of guilt or pressure.  You might even consider asking some of the “fringe” people to participate in the worship service in meaningful ways (light the Advent candles, help with communion, light the outside luminaries, etc.).

With these three simple and easy strategies, the attendance at your Christmas Eve services will likely increase. In the previous blog, we focused on increasing the number of returning guests during the Advent season. While this current post focuses on increasing attendance at your Christmas Eve Service(s), be sure to incorporate the tips from that previous blog also to ensure a fruitful and vital Advent season.