Have you ever spent a fairly large amount of money on something you ordered online or from a catalog, only to receive it in the mail and find it not nearly as nice as you expected it to be? We’ve probably all had times where we felt the value we received from something didn’t live up to what we gave for it.

Every year children’s ministry leaders spend hours upon hours working on the annual Christmas program. When the program is over, we’re left with the question, “Was it all worth it?” With the amount of time put into the event, it’s important to make sure that the value of our programs extends beyond just a fun time for our families. We need to get the best “bang for our buck.”

The first step is evaluating why your church even has a Christmas program. What are some valid reasons for having a Christmas program?

Church Morale— A well-organized, successfully directed program has a way of strengthening the morale of your church, especially for the people directly involved. It’s a reminder of the great things that can be accomplished when everyone works together. Work hard to involve as many people as possible, and always put your best foot forward.

Fun for Kids and Families— When it’s all said and done, a great Christmas program is a reason for celebration. Kids feel good about themselves and families feel valued.

Recruitment— While some people might not be willing to sign on to teach a class of 3-year-olds every Sunday, they may be more likely to help with a seasonal program. Try to involve people you’d like to see as members of your regular children’s ministry. After a successful program and working along side members of your regular team, they may be more likely to sign up to volunteer on a more frequent basis.

And the #1 reason for having a Christmas program is… <drum roll>

Outreach/Evangelism— There’s no better reason to put on a children’s Christmas program than to reach people who don’t know Christ—especially the parents of those children who typically attend your Sunday morning or midweek program with friends or by themselves. Here are a few ideas.

• Send home rehearsal tapes. After choosing music that shares the gospel message, make sure every family has a tape to use for practice at home. Families will hear the music (and the message) over and over for weeks!
• Prepare a “sneak peak” performance. A month before your program, have a couple of songs ready to perform on a Sunday morning. Send personal invitations (especially to parents who don’t usually attend your church) and host a lunch afterwards for all participants and their families. Make sure you and your volunteers make a point of meeting families who don’t typically attend church together. Discuss with your pastor ways he can be a part of using this day to share the gospel message.
• Involve kids in outreach as a part of the Christmas Program. Think about the theme of your program and find a related way to reach out to the community. For example, one year my church put on a program called “All I Want for Christmas.” In order to practice giving instead of receiving, we had all kids and families bring in diapers, baby blankets, and other supplies to donate to our local pregnancy center.
• Charge admission or take up an offering. Use the funds received to give a less fortunate family a merry Christmas. Buy everything you need to give them a Christmas meal, as well as gifts for each member of the family. In the past we’ve bought gift cards to grocery stores, winter coats for kids, gift certificates to car repair shops, phone cards, and other helpful items.
• Offer an adult Bible study during rehearsals. Help parents who don’t usually attend church make connections with others who do. Make sure to use materials that are easily understandable and have an evangelistic focus. A possible option would be Lee Strobel’s, A Case for Christ , or the Alpha Course.
• Advertise rehearsal times as “a fun getaway with free babysitting.” While some unchurched parents might not attend a Bible study, they might drop off their kids for rehearsal and join other parents for fun at the bowling alley, a movie, dinner, or other event for adults. Anything you can do to help parents make a connection with others will make them more likely to come back.
• Hold a prayer meeting. Get volunteers and your regular families together to pray specifically for the salvation of guests who will be attending your Christmas program.
• Share the gospel message after your program. Ask your pastor to share a brief message after your program, and offer people a chance to become Christians.
• Give away Bibles at the program. Make sure that anyone who doesn’t have a Bible receives one at your show. You can purchase Bibles inexpensively in bulk.
• Publicize, Publicize, Publicize. If your church has the space and resources to open your program to the community, make sure you publicize well. Find places to put up posters, advertise in your local paper, give an announcement on a local radio station, look for community event announcements on the Web, and more. Communicate in every way you can. You can also create tickets to have available at church for church families to give out to their friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
• Get unchurched families involved in the process. Find out what skills your kids’ parents have. If there’s a mom who can sew, get her together with other sewing moms in your church to create costumes. If there’s a dad who has carpentry skills, get him together with other dads in your church to help build your staging. Put together a marketing team with graphic designers, marketing professionals, and so on to create materials and develop a publicity campaign. Think of every possible thing that needs to be accomplished and find skilled people—especially unchurched—to fill those needs.
• Hold an “after show” party. Celebrate! Show families how much you value their sacrifices of time and money in order to put on a great show. Find every way you can to make them feel loved and accepted.

The key to putting on a great program and making it about more than just fun is being willing to think outside the box. Always keep your focus on reaching people for Christ, and at the end you’ll look back and be able to say, “Yes, it was all worth it!”

April Nissen has been serving in full-time ministry for seven years in various areas, including worship, creative arts, and children. She’s currently serving as the children’s pastor at Northwest Christian Church, a church plant in Vancouver, Washington.

Copyright © 2004, Group Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.