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The Christmas Invitation Your Community Is Waiting For
Half of Americans plan to attend church this Christmas season, but 56% say they're just waiting for someone to invite them.
Lifeway Research's latest Christmas data highlights an important moment this holiday season: while 47% of Americans typically attend church during the Christmas season, most of those outside your regular congregation are waiting for a personal invitation before they'll walk through your doors. One in five of religiously unaffiliated Americans—people with no church connection—say Christmastime is when they attend services. That's millions of spiritually curious people who are open to experiencing church exactly when you're already planning your highest-attendance services.
Christmas Eve remains the crown jewel of church attendance, with nearly half of pastors reporting it as their largest service of the year. Your community already knows this is a churchgoing season. Most Americans (91%) celebrate Christmas, and 72% believe the birth of Jesus is a historical event. The real opportunity requires invitation.
Here's what this means for your church: Christmas attendance is predictable, but visitor retention isn't. You have one week to prepare your congregation for the most natural outreach opportunity of the year, and the churches that treat Christmas visitors as a harvest rather than a crowd could see January growth.
Three steps to maximize your Christmas opportunity:
Equip your people to invite intentionally this Sunday. Give every member three invitation cards and challenge them to personally invite neighbors, coworkers, or friends who don't have church plans. If needed, provide a simple script: "We're doing something special at my church on Christmas Eve. Would you join me?" That personal touch is what more than half of Americans say would get them there.
Create a visitor pathway beyond the service. Most churches plan four Christmas events on average, but few connect those events to January engagement. This week, design a simple follow-up system: capture visitor information, send a personal text within 48 hours, and invite them to a January small group or newcomer lunch. Christmas crowds lose value if you're starting from zero in February.
Prepare your regular attenders to welcome the unfamiliar. With half of Americans fuzzy on the biblical Christmas story and many visitors bringing family members who rarely attend, brief your greeters and small group leaders on creating space for those exploring faith. The goal is to help curious visitors discover why church matters in January and beyond.
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Ministry Intel
Who Is Your Neighbor? | J.D. Greear
As your church prepares to welcome Christmas visitors, this reflection on the Good Samaritan parable offers a timely reminder: loving our neighbor means moving toward anyone in need. The lawyer in Luke 10 wanted to limit who counted as his neighbor, seeking loopholes in Jesus' command, but Jesus responded with a story that demolished every boundary. This Christmas, your congregation will likely welcome people from across political divides, different cultural backgrounds, and varying levels of spiritual curiosity. Greear challenges us to give until we share in others' burdens.
This week: Prepare your regular attenders to genuinely welcome Christmas visitors who may look, vote, or believe differently than they do.
Faith's Importance Has Dropped 20 Points Since 2000 | Barna Group
While Barna's recent data shows encouraging signs of spiritual openness, including increased interest in Jesus among younger adults, their 25-year analysis is sobering: the percentage of Christians who say faith is "very important" has dropped from 74% to 54% since 2000. This decline matters because importance drives behavior. Even as some people claim Christian identity or attend church occasionally, fewer people are organizing their lives around their beliefs. Only one in five U.S. adults now qualify as "practicing Christians,” and only one in three feels a responsibility to share their faith.
Consider: Your Christmas visitors represent this tension: spiritual curiosity without conviction. Your church can show why faith should matter deeply enough to transform their daily lives.
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