How to Pastor Your Church Through the Holidays

The holidays are upon us. We’re planning more, buying more, eating more, and spending more time with loved ones. It’s a season of abundance–and for many, stress. 

That being said, we’re faced with a pastoral opportunity: to shepherd our people through both the joys and the pressures of this time of year. To celebrate the nativity of Christ, while acknowledging that November and December can be exhausting and emotionally triggering. To learn how to honor God not just with our mouths, but with our stomachs and our wallets. To pursue healing when we’re triggered and to reach the lost around us with the joy of Christmas.  

In the following article, we’ll discuss how to pastor your church members through this time of feasting and fretting. You’ll learn not only how to guide your flock through this season, but how to run your church smoothly and efficiently, so you can finish well in January. 

8 Holiday Tips for Church Leaders 

It’s already a challenging cultural moment to be a church leader. Add an extra dose of consumerism, emotional triggering, and expectations to the uncertainty and tension of the mid-2020’s, and you’ve got a major pastoral headache on your hands. 

Here are some tips to help you navigate the season–as well as a handful of hopeful reminders that the holidays can also be a time of miraculous renewal, joy, and blessing. 

Be practical 

Acknowledge the financial realities and psychological stressors of the season, and offer practical advice on how to cope. This can be as pragmatic as avoiding a second drink at your office party or taking a 10-minute walk everyday with no phone. In any case, encourage self-control and just a bit of solitude during this busy season. 

Be honest 

As mentioned above, the Christmas season is rife with opportunities for indulging beyond what’s reasonable. Don’t sugarcoat sin for your church members. The Bible has some strong words about gluttony, debt, and drunkenness (Proverbs 23:2; Romans 13:8; Ephesians 5:18). 

Define joy 

The Bible certainly doesn’t prohibit feasting or celebration. Remind your church members that this is a special time for celebrating with family and friends, but that a true picture of joy doesn’t look like the perfect dinner party or holiday outfit (despite what your social media feed will tell you). Joy is found in a sense of wonder and gratitude. 

Encourage outreach

Christmas is a unique season in which it may feel more comfortable to invite a not-yet-believer to church. Make it easy for your church members to do this by:

• Printing off postcard invitations that can be distributed around town
• Creating a warm atmosphere at your church building for new visitors
• Putting on a Christmas performance
• Hosting a Christmas market
• Planning a special kids-only event for young families

There are myriad ways to reach out to your community during Christmas. Regardless, putting the emphasis on outreach during the holidays can help keep the focus on Jesus. 

Consider Advent 

Focusing on both the nativity of Christ and the second coming of Christ, Advent can be a powerful time of spiritual preparation and reflection. Here are some ideas for leaning into this once-a-year moment:

• Light a candle for each week of Advent–symbolizing hope, peace, joy, and love. As you successively light more candles, the sanctuary becomes increasingly illuminated with the hope of Jesus. 
• Hold a weekly Advent devotional, using Scripture to build anticipation for the Messiah. You can read Old Testament prophecies (Isaiah 9 is a great place to start) and then transition into the book of Luke, which outlines the birth of Christ in particular detail.  
• Encourage your church members to spend extra time journaling and reflecting on Jesus. 

Regardless of how you might choose to acknowledge Advent in your church, these practices can help instill a sense of peace during an otherwise chaotic month. 

Offer prayer

Prayer is the center point of a peace-filled life, but we often need to pray with others to quiet our busy minds. Offer prayer at the end of your weekend services, host a time of prayer for those feeling overwhelmed or stressed, and promote prayer in your teaching. 

Plan a toy drive 

Finally, plan an event that makes it simple for your church members to give back to those in need. A toy drive for children in disadvantaged circumstances is a wonderful way to give back and to shift focus from an overly commercialized Christmas to a chance to bring joy. 

Remember your staff 

Finally, remember that Christmas can be a particularly stressful time for church staff. Planning special services, decorating, and even executing a staff Christmas party can put additional pressure on everyone. In the midst of the bustle, remember to honor and bless your staff. 

Why The Holidays Can Be Tough

For some of us, it goes without saying that the holiday season brings challenges. Others of us lean hard into the merriment and mistletoe without giving a second thought to potential stressors. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, here’s a list of potential pitfalls. 

Loss and Grief

The joy and celebration of the holidays tend to highlight what’s missing. For some of your church members, this will be their first Christmas without a loved one who has passed. Others will be struggling through a broken marriage, divorce, or unwanted singleness. Still, others will be longing for a child, perhaps because of infertility or a prodigal son or daughter. 

Financial Stress

Feasting, gifts, party preparations, travel, and taking time off work can all produce a great financial burden during the holidays. We can lament how consumeristic the holidays have become, but even a minimalist approach to the season can be expensive. For those who are already struggling financially, the pressure to buy gifts, decorations, and extra food can be a devastating blow. 

Pressure to Perform

More than any other holiday, Christmas brings expectations. It seems as though in the midst of busy lives, exercise regimens, and work stressors, we’re also meant to host fabulous parties, eat plenty of food (while staying fit), and create Christmas magic for our kids. The holidays can exacerbate the already unhealthy performance mentality that’s so pervasive in our culture. This tends to create anxiety or a sense of failure and regret.

Opportunities for Addictive Behaviors

Some of your church members may be struggling with various forms of addiction. Please remember that this is a difficult time to say “no” – whether that’s to alcohol, food, gambling, or pornography. 

How to Run Your Church During the Holidays with Tithely

The holidays can be both joyful and challenging for everyone–church leaders included! One of the best ways to mitigate stress during this season is to stay organized and streamlined in church management. 

Tithely is a suite of church software tools that can help you stay as efficient as possible during the holiday season. With free tools for online giving, service planning, communications, volunteer management, and more, Tithely makes it simpler to run a holiday season that feels peace-filled and purposeful.