Christmas House
I love Christmas. Regardless of how chaotic the season can be, I am smitten by the wonder of decorations, the anticipation of gifts, the timelessness of traditions, and mostly, the hope and beauty of Jesus’ coming to earth. In the church calendar, Christmas is high ranking as a time when people often find themselves meandering back into the four walls of a church building - sometimes for the first time in years. Therefore, you will find that the church event calendar during this season is often bursting with outreaches and opportunities for generosity. In our community at FCC, we started a tradition of our own many years ago that has blossomed into an event that we look forward to year round called Christmas House.
The planning for Christmas House starts early. In September, the team begins dreaming and discussing this hallmark event in our Christmas calendar. During the month of October, we connect with the counselors and social workers at our local public elementary schools and some middle schools near our church. The schools then identify a select number of families in their schools who are in need of some assistance during the Christmas season to provide gifts for their children. The families then share with us a specific wish list for each child in the family. This is where our church family comes in. After we’ve compiled all the Christmas wishes into an Amazon gift list that allows us to track gifts while keeping families anonymous, the church can begin selecting gifts to purchase. The process is very simple - just purchase the gift, it gets sent to our team, and you’re done!
As gifts begin to roll in, our team will organize and sort gifts into family groups. Also during this time, the church can sign up to volunteer at the event. This season is so special. Sundays start to include hauling gifts into the church foyer, as our church rallies around these families to provide excellent and personal gifts for each and every child.
And then the event finally arrives - Christmas House. At their assigned time, the families arrive at the church. They’re greeted by a warm and welcoming team of volunteers who immediately make them feel at home in a beautifully decorated environment. The kids then go to a separate space to do a special Christmas craft. While the kids are occupied elsewhere, the parents are escorted into the main auditorium where they get their bundle of unwrapped gifts for their children. Parents then wrap the gifts for their children while a volunteer host engages them in conversation and gets any resources they may need. Once all the presents are wrapped, the kids rejoin their parents and the whole family spends time decorating Christmas cookies together while parents enjoy a hot cup of coffee or cocoa. Before they leave, we also load into their car an entire Christmas dinner for them to take home to enjoy as a family.
Once again, we as a church family have the honor of hosting this beautiful Christmas experience. And while the gifts, cookies, decor, etc are all beautiful, intentional and excellent, by far the most significant part of Christmas House is the opportunity to show the love of Jesus to our community. As the church, we have the opportunity to put the love of Jesus on display - through a generous and intentional gift, a smiling face, a home baked cookie, a welcoming children’s program, help loading and unloading a car, and more. Through these simple and tangible things, we get to usher in the eternal truths of Jesus’ love, redemption and hope. My prayer is that you would join us this year, as we do our best to let the generosity of God be on display through us this Christmas season through the wonder of Christmas House.