Ideas

Family and Small Group Ideas

• Get all the families/ small groups in your churches to make and fill an extra stocking this year, to donate to local charities. 
• In this stressful time of year, support your neighbours through random acts of kindness. You could babysit to free a busy mum up to go Christmas shopping, or do some housework or cook a meal. Whatever will help!
• Throw a Birthday party for Jesus
• If you've got American neighbours, they might like to celebrate thanksgiving with all the traditional food!
• Family outing - hire a minibus and take kids to a medieval city or other tourist centre that's full of the Christmas spirit
• Craft sessions – enlist the help of the most creative people in your church to set up a workshop, where parents and children can be shown how to create their own Christmas cards, crackers and decorations
• Seasonal surf – arrange an outing to your nearest surfing beaches, get the wet suits and boards out, and finish off with some hot chocolate and mince pies
• Advent Light Relay
• Posada - An exciting way of preparing for Christmas during the Advent season.
• Silent Light Decorations - Light up your Christmas. More details here 

•  On Christmas Eve, visit people who are stuck in hospital
• Sing carols in the town centre
• Wrap people's presents for free
• Invite rough sleepers to a free Christmas Dinner
• Put on a Christmas musical or play
• Take part in a 'share a bear' scheme - donating teddies and presents to local children's charities
• Hold a celebration (think civic dinner / pub night / rent out a nightclub) to celebrate all that's happened this year and to declare a message of hope. Invite local public figures and media
• Go carol singing and gift giving in low income areas
• Have a baubel / sellotape / candy cane giveaway campaign. You could attach a Christmas card with an evangelistic message, to make it clear why you're doing this
• Offer to decorate Christmas trees for people who find it hard i.e. elderly neighbours
• You could write to, or visit, prisoners who may well be feeling lonely at this time of year  

• Use real people to create a 'living nativity'
• Go carol singing!
• Do a children's nativity, with coffee and mince pies afterwards for parents
• Have a victorian Christmas - where everyone dresses in period costume to sing carols
• Christmas market - invite church members and people from the wider community to set up stalls; serve mulled wine and mince pies
• Christmas panto - the gifted and talented members of your church could really ham it up and put on a panto for families from the wider community
• Storytelling tour – enlist the skills of your church’s best storyteller, or hire in some outside help, to take family groups on enchanting walks with some gripping stories about local myths and legends!