Christmas is important, but it really shouldn’t take over your entire worship ministry. Yet here you are needing to plan for Christmas and maintain regular Sunday worship until it arrives. How is that fair?
Well, it isn’t. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done right. Here are a few ways to keep Christmas planning under control while still preparing for normal services.
Put Christmas on the Calendar Early
If you haven’t already, get all your Christmas-related dates on the calendar. Include Christmas Eve services, Advent services, special rehearsals, planning meetings, and any other events that will require your worship team. Then look at the rest of your worship calendar.
Are there regular Sundays that will need extra attention? Are there other church events competing for the same musicians? Are you scheduling rehearsals so close together that your volunteers won’t have time to breathe?
Don’t enter this season blind. Seeing everything on one calendar helps you spot problems before they happen.
Decide What’s Really Worth Doing
Christmas is full of possibilities. You could add a choir, special instrumentalists, elaborate arrangements, extra worship nights, and all sorts of creative elements. But just because you could do something doesn’t mean you should. Every additional element requires time, communication, rehearsal, and people to make it happen.
Ask yourself a simple question: Will this addition meaningfully improve the service, or are we adding it because it sounds impressive?
Work smarter, not harder. Choose the elements that best serve your congregation and the message of Christmas.
Simplify (And Don’t Neglect) Regular Sunday Worship
It’s easy to fall into the mindset of just getting through ordinary Sundays until Christmas is over. Sorry, not allowed. Your congregation still needs your leadership up until Christmas. People are still arriving with burdens, questions, grief, and reasons to praise God. For some, an ordinary Sunday in December may be just as spiritually significant as Christmas Eve.
Keep planning your regular worship sets with care. Continue choosing songs that support the themes of each service, communicating with your musicians, and preparing well. And at the same time, do your best to stay in your team’s comfort zone. Choose arrangements your team knows well. Conserve energy by leaning on the familiar, not by ignoring people’s needs.
Simplifying doesn’t equal settling. Put your time and energy where they’ll make the greatest difference.
Respect Your Volunteers
Your worship team has jobs, families, and other responsibilities outside the church. December is already busy for most people. Add extra rehearsals and services, and you can quickly wear out even your most dependable volunteers.
Before scheduling another rehearsal, ask whether it’s truly necessary. Send music and recordings early so people can prepare at home. Communicate schedules as far in advance as possible, and avoid making last-minute changes unless they’re needed. Most importantly, remember that your volunteers are people, not resources to be scheduled until every Christmas idea becomes reality.
Show every volunteer ample respect. Respect their time by communicating early. Respect their integrity by trusting them to do preparations outside of rehearsals. Respect their work by thanking them and telling them none of it is possible without them.
Set a Limit on New Ideas
Christmas planning has a way of generating more ideas than anyone can realistically execute. Someone suggests a special song. Someone else proposes a video. Then there’s an idea for a choir, a dramatic reading, and a completely different arrangement of a familiar carol.
Focus up. Set boundaries early. Formulate your plan and decide which special elements align with it. Be realistic on how many your team can handle. Nail down what you’re going to pursue and get ready to say no to good ideas that don’t fit.
Keep a list of ideas for next year. Christmas will come again, and not every great idea has to happen this time around.
What a Father!
Christmas deserves thoughtful preparation. Your congregation deserves services that point them toward Christ, and your team deserves the time and resources to prepare well. But you don’t have to sacrifice your entire worship calendar to make that happen.
Plan early. Choose your priorities. Simplify where you can. Protect your volunteers’ time, and keep giving ordinary Sundays the attention they deserve.
Your workload may not always be fair, but you know what is always true? Our amazing Father sees you. All your ways are known to Him. Trust him with the unfair. He’ll take care of you.
God bless you in all your endeavors this Christmas season!
