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Christmas

Across all our research, those who have encountered church at one of life’s key moments are positive about hearing from us again. One of the best moments to be in contact with people is around Christmas. It is a time when most people will want to return and a focused invitation linking to their situation can make a difference. The ideas below might help to target that invitation.

Building on the success of the 2018/2019 #FollowTheStar campaign, this year, the Church of England’s Christmas campaign will help churches reflect the current situation. Read more about it and download the first new resources on the Church of England website.

CPAS are also supporting churches with all sorts of ideas and resources for Christmas through the pandemic. These links may be helpful:-

NB: Help with Christmas mailings – the Life Events Diary is a fantastic on-line tool which reminds you which groups to invite to which events. Your reminders, which you can set up in advance, will arrive by email letting you know when to send out details of your Christmas services. To help reach those without internet access, it can also help you prepare the address labels for posting to specific groups of contacts. If you don’t have an account, you can find out more and register here: www.lifeeventsdiary.org.

Christmas for those who grieve Bereaved families are some of those who need supportive contact around this time of year. By simply acknowledging that Christmas can be a difficult time, the family can be reminded of the care of their church. These ideas, offered from busy clergy, are simple, but focused.

Christmas for families Targeted invitation seems to work well. Why not invite your family contacts to just one event? Church of England research showed that traditional nativity or crib services are the most likely service baptism families will want to be part of, but any of these ideas may work well too.

Christmas for Wedding Couples Whether recently married or soon-to-be married, Christmas is a great time to contact couples. Their reception venues and others will be sending cards and inviting them to events at this time, and couples like to hear from us too.

Keeping in touch There can be a long gap between making the arrangements and the wedding day â€“ sometimes more than two years. Hotels, florists and photographers will be in contact with the couple. How can the church keep in touch too?