Christmas · start about 10 weeks out

The Christmas media plan that starts with one decision

Everything you have to make for Christmas is waiting on your service times. Lock them early and the rest of the season isn't a sprint.

Download the printable version · 1-page checklist, 2 MB

Also worth having

The Christmas Media Playbook

Twelve pages, planned backward from Christmas Eve: the four decisions to settle in September, one church's complete deliverables list, and a worksheet for your own season.

Get the playbook

If you've run a Christmas season at a church, you know how this one goes. Somebody asks about service times in October and the answer is almost, and by the time it's actually final, it's the week of Thanksgiving.

Think about everything that needs those times printed on it. The invite card, the website banner, the social graphics, the email to your congregation, the signage in your lobby. None of it can be finished, printed, or scheduled until somebody answers when your services are, so the whole season sits in a holding pattern behind one decision.

And the work doesn't shrink just because you started late. You'll make the same invite card and the same graphics either way. What changes is whether you've got ten weeks to do it in or two, and those two weeks land in the busiest stretch of your entire year, while families are already searching for somewhere to go on Christmas Eve.

So the date to put on your calendar is early October, about ten weeks out. Everything below hangs off it.

The plan

5 blocks of work, starting about 10 weeks out

Week 1

Lock the service times for real

This is the whole guide in one week. Get the times decided, not proposed, not pending a conversation with the worship team. Then publish them everywhere on the same day, because a time sitting in one leader's inbox isn't published. If the decision needs three people in a room, get that meeting on the calendar today.

A single graphic with all service times that works as a square, a story, and a website banner
A dedicated Christmas page on your site with dates, times, and address, linked from the homepage
The times added to your Google listing and any church directory or map profile you appear on
One short email or text to the congregation, so your own people can answer the question when a neighbor asks

Week 2

Make the invite easy to hand to a neighbor

Most people who come to a Christmas service come because somebody they know asked them. Your job is to make that ask cost them nothing, which means one clear invite in a format they can hand over or forward without having to explain it.

A physical invite card with the times, address, and one short line about the service
A shareable image sized for phone messaging, not just for feeds
A short vertical video from a pastor or a familiar face saying the times out loud
A plain-text version people can paste into a text message

Week 3

Answer the questions nobody asks out loud

A first-time visitor isn't wondering about your theme. They're wondering where to park, what to do with their four-year-old, whether anyone's going to single them out, and whether they'll make it home in time for dinner. Nobody emails to ask any of that. They just quietly decide not to come, so put the answers somewhere they can find them without talking to a person.

A short 'what to expect' section on the Christmas page covering parking, arrival, and how long the service runs
A clear answer on childcare: whether it is offered, at which services, and what to do if it is not
Photos of the actual entrance and lobby, so arriving feels familiar rather than new
A carousel or story set that walks through arrival start to finish

Week 4

Say the part only your church can say

By now your logistics are handled, and that's what frees you up to actually say something. A schedule tells somebody when the doors open, and it says nothing about why this year matters at your church. This is the week for the part only you can say.

A short piece from your pastor on what this Christmas is about at your church, in writing or on video
One real story from your congregation, shared with permission and in that person's own words
A set of graphics carrying the season's message rather than the times
A reel or short video cut from last year's service, if you have usable footage

Week 5

Go quiet and let your people carry it

In the last stretch before Christmas Eve, more posting from the church account does almost nothing. Invitations from actual people do nearly all of the work. So stop adding to the feed and start handing your congregation something they can send, then protect your team's week, because somebody still has to run the services.

A simple invite kit your people can grab: one image, one line of text, one link
A reminder to volunteers and small group leaders with the times and the link, sent early in the week
Scheduled reminder posts for the two days before, written and queued now so nobody is posting on Christmas Eve
A plan for who is capturing photos or video during the services, agreed before the day

If you are reading this in December

You're in good company, and the plan doesn't really change. It just gets shorter. Do week one today, even if it takes two people on a phone call to settle it. Times locked and published beats times perfected and quiet, every single year.

Then skip straight to week five. On a short runway, the invite kit is worth more than anything else you could make: one graphic, one line of text, one link, handed to your congregation with a clear ask. Your people asking their neighbors will beat anything you post from the church account in the time you've got left.

Then let the rest go. The story piece, the full visitor guide, the photos of your lobby, none of it is going to change who shows up this year. Write down what you skipped, drop it in a file called next Christmas, and put one thing on your calendar for early October: decide the service times. That note is the whole difference between this December and the next one.

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The plan above is the whole thing and it is yours either way. If it is easier to work through one piece at a time, we will send it as a short series so each part arrives when you need it.