Christmas in July! - Getting Ahead on Your Planning (2024)

Christmas in July. It’s a fun phrase that many have taken full advantage of to create that Christmas feeling during the hot summer month. But as Christmas is the busiest season for churches around America, this cute little saying should perhaps be taken more to heart by church staff members.

SALT instructor Dex Alexander has some great advice for those looking to stay on schedule with their holiday planning, and it includes a fun method that combines planning with team culture! In a pre-conference intensive about The Secret Sauce of Creativity, Dex shares how his team experiences Christmas together before diving into plans and programming.

And, it all starts with Christmas in July.

Host a Christmas Party for Your Staff

Push your desks aside, turn up the AC, bake the cookies, and fire up the hot cocoa! It’s time for your staff and volunteers to gather for their own Christmas party. Dex recommends you make it just that: a party. Save the planning and plotting of your holiday service for later. Start with the fun! Get everyone in the Christmas spirit, do Christmas activities together, and create an open space for your team to share their favorite memories about Christmas.

Don’t plan it. It’s not about what you to do – it’s about how you want it to feel.

An example Dex shares is from a year when his team threw a Christmas party in July, and one of their members shared about the nostalgia of listening to a holiday program on the radio. It struck a chord with their team, and they used it as the foundation for planning their next Christmas Sunday. They wanted the feeling of nostalgia to prevail over everything they programmed that year, and they implemented the radio program as their theme for the Christmas season.

So gather your staff together, get in the Christmas spirit, and hear one another’s stories and memories what your team shares can spark ideas for your theme in December. Remember, this party is not a time to program your service, but to experience Christmas once again.

IMPORTANT NOTE: At the end of the meeting, let them know you’ll come back to them with a theme and holes that will need to be filled.

The After-Party

This might be the hardest part for your staff and team, but after the Christmas party… they need to wait. Take a couple of weeks for your creative team and pastor to finalize the theme and key elements they want to focus on this Christmas. If you’re at a smaller church, this might be three individuals responsible for leading the charge with Christmas services – but the key is for these key creatives to take everything they heard and experienced at the July Christmas party to create the foundation for the holiday planning.

They need to consider the following when creating the foundation for your Christmas season:

• What is this?
• Who is this for?
• What do we want them to feel?
• What do we want them to do?

Everyone has something they want to do – stop the chaos now.

Once you have your theme – announce it to the team! Share your theme, visuals/design, what you want attendees to feel, and experiences you want to create. Give context as to what you want to focus on within your theme and any elements you’d like to avoid. Provide specific programming pieces or creative acts that you know you want to be included in your Christmas services so that they can see where their department might fit in best.

Open the Floodgates

Once your theme is announced and laid out, it’s time to let your whole team begin making their requests. Have a request form created, ready, and set the expectation for your team. It’s time for them to submit their ideas for how their respective departments can be involved.

A great example that Dex shared regarding these requests is that the children’s department wanted to have the kids’ choir perform at their Christmas service. Their creative team, however, already knew of a few key experiences they wanted to help fulfill their theme and help Sunday churchgoers experience that sense of nostalgia. So instead of the kids choir performing on stage, Dex and the children’s ministry leader decided on the kids doing caroling out in the lobby to create a great walk-in experience while also allowing more time for programming within service.

It’s Not Too Late

The day-to-day can often make church staff feel like they already can’t keep up, but you’ll never get ahead if you don’t start now! For the biggest holiday of the season, take the time to get ahead on your Holiday planning and set expectations for your team. Follow this advice from Dex to bring back some fun to your team gatherings while also setting clear expectations and getting a jump start on your Christmas service planning.

Looking for more great resources and learning for you and your team? Join us at SALT Conference this year!