Introduction
December can feel like chaos – lots of social events, services, Christmas presents to buy, never-ending to-do lists and the pressure to create the perfect Christmas. But in the midst of this chaos, our churches can offer an opportunity to find peace during this busy time.
Throughout Advent, there will be a focus on how to find Calm during this busy period, with reflections offering people a chance to pause during the busy season and tips on how to prepare for a calm Christmas.
Then through Christmas, the focus will be particularly on Bright, with a series of joyful reflections from Christmas Eve to the Eve of Epiphany (5 January) including tips for a bright Christmas.
Resources for churches
- Booklets, prayer cards and family resources: Ideal for giving away at Advent and Christmas services, new printed Calm and Bright Christmas reflections booklets, prayer cards for adults and families are available to pre-order now from Church House Publishing.
- Logos and design guidelines: The Calm and Bright logo maintains a design approach reminiscent of last year’s Join the Song campaign. Logo packs for print and digital are available to download now. The branding guidelines are designed to assist churches and organisations in making the most of the spectacular Calm and Bright branding.
- Webinar: How your church can engage with children and young people this Christmas: Join us on 17 September to find out how you can support children and young people to find out more about faith this Christmas. Get a first look at the new resources for under-18s, along with practical ways to engage at church, at home and in schools. Learn more and register your interest.
- Webinar: The Christmas Digital Planner: Join us on 16 October for a practical session designed to help your church connect with more people through digital media this Christmas. We'll be introducing our brand-new Digital Planner to help you plan and create a calm, inviting space for your community. Learn more and register your interest.
- There will be a range of Digital Labs resources available to churches from September onwards. This includes our regular webinars tailored for Advent and Christmas, blogs, how-to videos, and a Digital Planner to help you create, strategise and organise your church's digital content.
- Christmas episodes from the Cheeky Pandas: These free resources feature cartoons, songs and Bible stories to help you engage the children in your church with the Christmas story. Find videos on the Cheeky Pandas website.
- Get downloadable resources including digital Christmas card templates, social media covers and templates, poster templates, and PowerPoint templates from AChurchNearYou.com (login required).
- Coming soon: Get involved in this year’s Christmas advert by creating your own unique version. We’ll be sharing a how-to video on how we made our advert, and we’d love for you to make your own. The how-to will be available soon.
More Resources
God Became Like Me?
A new book, produced by Scripture Union for children, tells the Christmas story through a poetic retelling of why Jesus came, how much he loves us and how he is always there for us. It features stunning line illustrations for children to colour in while reflecting on the words.
Churches can order as many as they like for free. They would be great to give out as a gift to children and families at Christmas services and events – maybe with an invitation to come back to church again!
For more information click here.
Customised Christmas videos
Promote your Christmas services using video, without any hassle! GoChatter have launched a website that provides 12 customisable Christmas videos that can be used by parishes to promote their Christmas services. They require ZERO video production experience, and can be created in just 5 minutes. They're not expensive to download (around £4 per video), and can be used across most social media platforms. Click here to find out more, and produce your first video.
