10 Small Church Holiday Outreach Ideas

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Make the most of holiday outreach this season! Here are 10 holiday outreach ideas to give your small church family an opportunity to invite!

Did you know this is not just a classic Christmas song but an actual statement of truth?

Christmas is truly the most wonderful time of the year because:

It reminds us of the incredible gift of love God gave us through His Son, Jesus.
Six out of ten Americans are most likely to attend church at Christmas time.
This time of year presents numerous opportunities to reach out to our communities with the Good News of Jesus’ birth!
Christmas can be a wonderful connection and encouragement to our small church families.

Lifeway Research, based out of Nashville, TN, found that 57% of Americans who don’t attend church said they would go at Christmastime if someone just invited them! Another interesting statistic is that 23% of people feel incredibly lonely and isolated during Christmas time. That information should be motivation for our small churches to get busy!

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

So how can we make the most of these opportunities this holiday season? To get you started, we give ten holiday outreach ideas that celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and give your small church family an opportunity to personally invite neighbors, family, and friends to come and experience the true gift of Christmas!

These holiday outreach events are amazing!

Make connections.
Show compassion
Build relationships
Encourage one another as we serve together
Provide opportunities to have fun and experience joy
Most importantly, share hope and the gift of God’s love in Christ.

Looking for something fresh and new for the holiday season?

Check out the Blue Christmas Pack & the Advent Worship Pack!

Christmas Outreach Ideas For Small Churches

1. Small Church Women’s Ministry Christmas Craft Event

This holiday outreach provides a gathering for women to make simple crafts for holiday gifts. It is a fun, relaxed time to connect with others around the craft tables as guests learn to complete projects. The Women’s Christmas Craft-A-Thon is perfect for inviting unchurched people to come and enjoy a time of holiday fun. As your women make new friends, use this connection point to invite new people to other ministries in your small church and to your Christmas services.

2. Small Church Family Karaoke & Trivia

Holidays are a great time to promote family and intergenerational activities. This holiday outreach event doesn’t require a big budget or complicated setup. This party offers fun and connection, complete with a karaoke-type sing-along and Christmas trivia challenge.

Best Tips For This Event:

Ask your guests to sing as family units or make mixed teams of all ages.
An alternative to performing is to have teams compete in a ‘Name that Christmas Tune’ kind of competition.
For Christmas trivia, purchase a game or create your own trivia questions. An MC asks the questions. Contestants go head to head in several rounds of questions. Game buzzers add a fun touch!
Provide silly prizes such as Santa hats, gourmet candy canes, silly Christmas socks, or an engraved trophy.
Remember to take lots of pictures for your church’s social media. This shows your community your small church knows how to have fun together!
Ask everyone to bring a snack to share. Serve ‘microphone’ cupcakes made in ice cream cones, decorated with frosting and chocolate sprinkles or microphone cut-out cookies!

3. Bear Christmas Tea For Kids

Is your church looking for a way to reach out to young families? This holiday outreach event serves children ages 3-5, but as your promotional material will indicate, an adult stays and participates with the child. This adult could be a parent, grandparent, babysitter, or older sibling. Children can feel like special guests as they are invited to attend and bring a special Teddy Bear friend with them.

This event is designed to connect and engage the whole family and provide a special time to make a Christmas memory together!

Tips For Your Small Church Bear Christmas Tea For Kids:

Deck the halls or tea tables. Make it special. Decorate with flare-linen tablecloths, flowers of the season, and special dishes at each setting. Consider using plastic wa re that looks like ‘china.’
Set up a small Christmas tree decorated with tea cup ornaments and tiny teddy bears.
Encourage your guests to wear their tea party ‘finery.’ It’s fun to dress up for tea!
Serve fancy tea sandwiches and cookies on beautiful trays. Serve juice or punch to drink instead of hot tea for children, but you can definitely serve it in tea cups!
Set up a photo area for great memories in front of a quality backdrop. Many cost less than $20 on Amazon.
Ask each child to introduce their teddy bear friend, name, and where they first met their friend!
Give out name tags as guests arrive to provide a great way to connect people.
Invite everyone to sit and hear a story/devotional book. Stories are a simple way to share the reason for the season with everyone!
Small party favors in Christmas gift bags are a great way to thank your guests for coming and give them a memory! A Christmas treat, holiday flashcar ds, and an invitation to events and ministries your church sponsors for children.
Encourage the holiday spirit of giving. Ask your guests to bring a new teddy bear to give away to a child in need. Check with local school counselors, a children’s hospital, or a foster kids program to see if they accept Teddy Bear donations.

Women’s ministries use the Tea Party as an event to reach out to women of all ages. It’s a warm gathering that can incorporate games, refreshments, and conversation. Tea parties are an excellent opportunity to invite new people and make connections around the tables.

4. Host A Men’s Gift Making Class

Making homemade gifts at Christmas time is a favorite activity. You might never have considered asking the men of your small church to attend a class to handcraft a gift for their significant other! Encourage your church men to invite someone to join them, a co-worker, a neighbor, or a friend. This event can have your small church talking for years to come! Women receive a gift their sweetheart spent time hand-crafting just for them. You may be surprised at the artistic level of some of your participants!

Class Tips:

Find easy-to-teach crafts to complete in one evening.
Consider asking an instructor from a local craft store or finding an easy-to-follow, step-by-step video. Do you have a crafter or artist in your small church or someone connected with your church who is willing to come and teach?
Use simple craft supplies such as decorative sig ns or decoupage papers for your projects.
Provide a simple snack and beverage area, so guys can graze as they create!
Pictures of all the artists and projects can be fun to share. Don’t share until after the new year; you don’t want to spoil the surprise!

This blog post, 10 Holiday Events To Spice Up Your Women’s Ministry, gives ideas for the women in your small church to have some fun during the holidays too.

5. Holiday Block Party & Sing Along

Want a way to connect with people who live near your church? Host a Holiday Block Party. Your parking lot is a great location for this fun event. Teams from your small church could canvas the area, hand out invitations, and personally invite people to attend. Volunteers can be in charge of the different areas of the party. The most important part is encouraging everyone in your small church to engage with your guests. Casual conversations build connections!

Block Party Tips:

Set some portable fire pits for warmth (for colder climates) and a S’mores creation station.
A Hot Cocoa bar with fun add-ins, like whipped cream, sprinkles, and candy cane stirs can add an element of fun!
Be sure to have plenty of S’more sticks available to roast marshmallows. Have someone there to serve and replenish supplies as needed.
Set up a corn hole game or children’s games such as jump rope, chalk drawing, ring toss, or bubbles.
Have a casual time singing Christmas carols. Sing acapella, or invite someone who can play the guitar. Simple is best!
While the main focus is getting to know your neighbors, feel free to invite everyone to your Christmas services at the end of the night.

For a wider reach, do this holiday outreach event in smaller teams, hosting in their own neighborhoods. This expands your community impact even more! This outreach event is very similar to the Summer Block Party B BQ.

6. Black Friday Cocoa & Coffee Run

Try this ‘out of the box’ idea to reach out at Christmas. This event is a mobile ministry. Form a team and take Hot Cocoa and Coffee to different parts of your town on Black Friday. Ask ahead of time to set up in shopping centers or local parks. Think about wherever people are ‘bustling’ through. Offer a quick break and a hot beverage, and introduce your community to your small church.

Hot Tips For Your Black Friday Cocoa & Coffee Run:

Large thermos jugs filled with hot cocoa and coffee are easier to transport in cars, and keep it nice and warm!
Disposable coffee cups with lids, a basket of coffee condiments creamers, sugars, stirs, and mini marshmallows for the cocoa, and napkins are needed.
Print stickers with your church name and a holiday greeting. Attach them to your cups. Wear your printed church t-shirts or hats to identify who you are.
For churches with many volunteers, send multiple teams to different areas.

If you liked this holiday outreach idea, here are some more ideas your small church may like- Christmas Ideas for Outreach & Connection.

7. Host A Free Gift Wrapping Station

A thoughtful way to reach out to people in our communities is to provide a service. Gift wrapping is useful; many people find it challenging to fit in their busy holiday schedules. It’s an easy service to offer, and materials are readily available. Try going out into the community to find a place to set up. A local Craft Fair or Art Market is a great spot to offer this service. It’s a great way to meet people in your own neighborhood.

Gift Wrapping Station Tips:

Contact local craft fair sponsors and ask permission to set up your booth. Check to see if you need to bring your own tables and chairs.
Compose a team that is skilled at the task! Yes, you offer the service for free, but deliver quality!
Have your team wear church t-shirts or aprons to identify yourselves. Consider a printed tablecloth or sign that says “Free Gift Wrap, Compliments of (your church name)”.
Gather supplies, and have plenty. You only need 3 or 4 gift paper choices and a couple of gift bags. Too many options slow down the process.
Also, have clear tape, scissors, a ruler (to measure and fold), and curling ribbon or sticky bows.
If you choose to have guests drop off their gifts to pick them up later, it’s a MUST to have a tag or ticket system for people to drop off and pick up their gifts when they are done shopping.
Provide candy canes to add to the packages or just to give to guests.

Local fairs and festivals can be a wonderful place to meet people in your community, get the word out about your small church, and build connections.

8. Give Free Donuts & Coffee

Set up a Drive-Thru area in your church parking lot as a fun and easy way to serve the people in your neighborhood. Provide a quick and free way for folks to grab a treat and coffee on their way to work or shop. Besides giving a holiday treat, you can connect with people, ask for prayer requests, invite people to Christmas services, and have friendly interactions.

Drive-Thru Tips:

Think about logistics. Mapping out a flow of traffic is important both for efficiency and for safety. Make sure your traffic helpers wear bright vests.
Incorporate all ages in this event. Ask people to hold signs out in front of the church or on the sidewalk. Schedule other members to man the coffee station, while others engage your guests as they drive up.
Ask someone to write down prayer requests so your team can gather after the event to have a time of prayer.
Put a banner or sign at your church a week before your event, post it on your social media, and ask your church members to spread the word to friends and family. Personal invitations are best! (The same principles from Why Personal Invitations Work Better Than Bulletin Announcements work to invite people to events.)
Ask a local bakery or donut shop to partner with you. Promote their business in exchange for free or discounted goods. Win-win!
Daw people in with a costumed character who greets people as they enter the driveway, waves to the cars, and wishes them Merry Christmas! This can definitely attract a lot of attention!

Drive-thru events can be a fun and unique way to connect with your community. There are lots of possibilities. These events are great to encourage intergenerational service at your small church!

Looking for something fresh and new for the holiday season?

Check out the Blue Christmas Pack & the Advent Worship Pack!

9. Cards, Carols, & Caring Day

Host a rally party at your church to create and then deliver some holiday joy to those who may be shut-ins, widowed, or lonely at this time of year. Gather volunteers for a time of making homemade Christmas cards, or simply a time to fill out larger-sized purchased cards with notes of encouragement, and Bible verses. Ask everyone to bring a plate of cookies, then make small boxes of mixed cookies to deliver with the cards. Make a list of those to visit. Go out in teams (or one group if you only have a few) and deliver your cards, cookies, and Christmas kindness accompanied by caroling. Take a few moments to pray for each recipient.

Holiday Outreach Caring Day Tips:

To make this a fantastic intergenerational service event, invite young families with kids to be involved. This event offers a fun way to learn about serving others at Christmas.
Be open to impromptu moments of opportunity. As you sing carols to someone on your list and you see a neighbor listening, stop by and sing to them as well!
Encourage your small church family members to wear festive sweaters, hats, or light necklaces! It adds an element of fun.
Gather your team for a time of prayer before you leave. Ask the Lord to bless each package delivered and that God’s love is clearly felt.

Taking the time to show others God’s love is a wonderful way to celebrate the season. It can touch so many lives. An event like this engages your church family in actively seeing and caring for one another. It can spark members to see they can do this on their own with people in their neighborhood or people they work with. Caring Day is a wonderful way to share the Good News; it doesn’t just have to be at Christmas.

10. Small Churches Host A Caregivers Christmas Party

The holidays are a wonderful time to reach out to a group of people that may not ever be seen or thought of: caregivers of family members, who may be elderly, infirmed, suffering from dementia, or have a disability or an illness that requires great care.

People who serve as caregivers are often discouraged, tired, worn, and feel unseen. Many times they are not able to get out to have fun. It can be a wonderful gift to host a party where the main focus is to care for and shower these special people with God’s love!

Caregiver Christmas Party Tips:

Consider partnering with a local Adult Day Care. Invite the caregivers of their clients to your special party. Ask your church to pay for the daycare staff to care for the clients during the party. This can help ensure the caregivers can attend their party with peace of mind, knowing their loved one is well cared for in a familiar environment.
Another way to facilitate this party is by asking if caregivers could find another family member or friend to relieve them for the evening.
Get the whole church involved with ideas from everyone to make your guests feel loved. Make a special dinner. Decorate your tables with holiday tablecloths, partyware, and centerpieces. Invite teens and young adults to serve drinks and desserts.
Play icebreaker games, and Christmas challenges, and give prizes!
Ask musicians to provide holiday dinner music.
Invite your pastor to bring a short devotional, prayer, and blessing for the caregivers.
Set up a photo backdr op for fun selfies to preserve party memories.
Ask folks in your small church to bring in gift cards to put in stockings. Include a Christmas devotional book and some chocolate. You want each guest to feel spoiled at the end of the party!

This holiday outreach event can be a huge blessing to your caregivers. It can also bless the volunteers as they see what showing God’s love can do for those around us. If you don’t have caregivers at your small church, consider hosting a Parents Night Out, for another wonderful way to show kindness to people in your community.

Holiday Outreach Events Are Important For Small Churches

This blog post, Tips To Include Children With Special Needs In Christmas Activities can give some great hints if you have special needs families in your small church.

Holiday outreaches are important for small churches to shower their communities with God’s love. As we celebrate the season by serving side by side, we see God build up our church volunteers in spirit and connection with each other.

Christmas is a special gift; let’s share the Good News! As we celebrate this season, let’s make an impact on our church family, on our community, and perhaps even the world!

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