Covid Christmas Crunch: 7 Ideas to Build Community in 2 Weeks or Less
Okay, don’t panic, but Christmas is, as of this posting, TWO WEEKS AWAY.
Okay, panicking is also acceptable: we’re officially in the Covid Christmas Crunch.
If you’re feeling crunched, it might be because you’ve been avoiding Christmas, it might be that you are still uncertain about what will be possible for your community, or it might just be that you have been absolutely incapable of making happen what needs to happen to build community this Christmas season.
Whatever the reason, it’s likely you could use some help to get through these last two weeks.
And beyond “get through,” we’d like to help you thrive in these final days leading up to your community’s Christmas experience.
Employ one or more of these ideas and you will build community in your Christmas services, despite any and all Covid crunch you may be facing.
Click here for the video version of this blog post!
- Offer Live and Recorded Christmas Services
This Christmas it will be more important than ever for you to offer multiple options for worship.
Some folks are going to feel especially isolated, celebrating the holidays away from family for the first time ever. These people will appreciate any and all live opportunities your community offers.
Live does not necessarily mean in-person.
Sometimes all that is needed is another person’s listening ear and caring response.
But not everyone will be deprived of interaction this Christmas. Whether they are gathering with others in-person or online, they will have dinners, Zoom calls, and other arrangements that prevent them from attending your live worship offerings.
Having a worship service available to your people at any time, might be exactly what they need for when the family time winds down and the isolation sets back in.
There is no need to pick and choose in this day and age. Whether it is two separate worship services or you repurposing the live service, reach all your people regardless of their preference for live vs. recorded worship.
- Christmas Facebook Challenge
Have you seen those challenges floating around social media?
You know, the ones where someone makes a post sharing a certain opinion and tags a few others to make the same post with their own opinions.
It could be that they answer a brief quiz and then tag other friends to answer it too.
Sometimes it’s as simple as sharing “what you’re doing right now” and “here’s what I’m doing.”
Occasionally, an actual challenge goes floating around where people dump ice water on their heads or do some other silly, odd, or difficult stunt for one reason or another.
The community-building comes in when you tag someone else to complete the same challenge that you just took part in. You can then enjoy or even commiserate over the fact that you both had the same experience. In a small (but not insignificant) way it connects you both.
The Christmas Facebook Challenge comes in when you create a Christmas-themed challenge for your people to partake in:
- Sing your favorite Christmas carol and tag someone else to do the same
- Share your favorite church pageant memory and tag someone else to do the same
- Share a photo of your favorite Christmas decoration and tag someone else to do the same
You could encourage your people to only tag others at the church or expand beyond your faith community.
Using a hashtag could connect every other post in this challenge with others just like it.
Finally, you might decide to put them all together at the end in a video or slideshow or album… or not! Even without some sort of collation, connection will still take place.
- Christmas Community Craft
In the same way community can be formed through the shared experience of a challenge, community can be formed through the shared experience of a craft.
You could either provide all of the material to make the craft through mailings or pickups or make the craft so simple and flexible that most of your people would be able to do it without added supplies.
Either way, encourage your people to share photos of their final creations. Like the challenge, this is something you could collate and share as a whole in the end.
- Check-In Texts and Calls
Checking in with your people via text and calls could be exactly what they need in this season.
This doesn’t have to be any more complicated than letting them know you are thinking of them or asking how they are doing.
While it may seem like a small gesture on the surface, it will provide you an opportunity to listen to whatever might be most on their mind. This could be a quick and small conversation or lead to much more.
- Ask Questions Online
Conversation is an important part in building community.
Icebreaker questions have been opening doors to connection for longer than most people wish were true.
While they may be somewhat painful in small or large group exercises, online they can be effective without even pressuring people into some uncomfortable action or admission.
As long as your questions aren’t too polarizing, you can ask just about anything and your followers will jump in to add their two cents.
Not feeling especially creative?
This pack will fully prepare you for the busy season ahead, ensuring you are not lacking when it comes to your holiday posts.
- Christmas Morning Photo Collection
Another way to foster community this holiday season is to encourage your people to send in a photo of themselves on Christmas morning.
You may not be able to be together in-person this Christmas, but a heart-warming second to that experience could be seeing everyone’s Christmas jammies, gatherings, and decorations.
Again, collect these photos and share them to spread cheer to your entire church family.
- Christmas Evening Candle Lighting
Last, but certainly not least, consider choosing a specific time of day that you will encourage your entire church community (and beyond!) to light a candle.
They could share in a moment of silence, a prayer, or simply just light the candle and notice the light of Christ in their lives in that moment.
You could encourage everyone to share a photo of their candle in a Facebook group or post it with a hashtag, but even if you don’t, they will sense the connection with others doing the same as them in that moment.
Covid Crunch Time!
While you still have time to make any one of these ideas a reality, you likely won’t have time for all of these before Christmas.
Take heart! Connection is connection.
There is not necessarily one option better than another.
You only need to decide which option(s) are best for your community specifically.
Covid or not, crunchtime or not – share in connection this Christmas, knowing the light of Christ is with you always.