11 Sep, 2024 Christmas Inspired
BE INSPIRED THIS CHRISTMAS
We were thrilled to receive a wonderful story from Maria, who was inspired by our earlier Christmas blogs, from Levin and New Lynn, and used those ideas to make a difference in her own community.
The brilliance of this story lies in recognising that not every idea will work in every situation. If the first idea doesn’t seem to succeed, you move on to the next and the next. However, the core vision stays the same, continually reaching different individuals.
WHY… (The wider vision summarised)
Over time, Christmas traditions have shifted, and nativities that once boldly showcased Christ’s central role have gradually disappeared from public view.
NOW, imagine a world where, as December 25th approaches, every New Zealander—from the youngest to the oldest—encounters nativity scenes woven into the fabric of their daily journey. This simple idea will normalise nativities again in the public view, highlight Jesus’s significance at Christmas, influence negative perceptions, engage public curiosity, and inspire conversations.
PICTURE THIS…
Nativity scenes popping up all around: in house windows, on Christmas cards, stickered on car windows, filling social media feeds, displayed outside churches, featured in shop windows, gracing front lawns, on public TV, part of Christmas parades, in community events, illustrated in children’s books, decorating Christmas trees, and highlighted on billboards.
MAKE IT HAPPEN…
Wherever people go and whatever they do, the nativity makes Jesus the season’s centrepiece. As the Church of Aotearoa, we can shift culture and refocus on Christ. Together, let’s use the simple NATIVITY imagery to bring Jesus back into view.
Here’s what Maria did to make the nativity a centrepiece in her community.
The first idea – in Maria’s words
A Christmas Photo Booth
THE SET UP: After being inspired by blogs from other churches, we setup a Christmas photo booth. It took some time to set up with a few bales of hay, various props from a local farmer or two, and some bits and pieces I found around the church or from friends.
SOME ATTENDANCE: We advertised a lot, thinking that people might like to come to a free photo shoot with some professional photographers from our church, but only a handful of families came. They enjoyed it thoroughly and it was good to see some Christian families inviting their non-churched friends.
NEW EFFORT – BUT…: The following year we did similar but even less people came, and even with having it set up at church after our service, I was surprised by how few took up the opportunity. It seems people were not so photogenic! We still had the props and took them to a Christmas event but even then it wasn’t a hit, so I concluded that the effort wasn’t giving the returns we were hoping for, even with word of mouth and trying again, so I let that one go.
The next idea…
A Christmas Parade Float
ADAPTION: What next? We thought it wouldn’t be too hard to re-use those props and enter the local (Napier) Christmas Parade, so that is what we did.
The first year I was absent on the day (at my sister’s wedding), but my co-worker did a great job leading pre-planned Christmas events. A team of 17 pulled together for the Christmas Parade (including 3 families with kids and 4 other girls whose parents let them come along). They had a nativity float and people dressed up as shepherds and angels to give out Christmas literature to the crowd.
I didn’t know until we attended the pre-parade meeting that there were prizes to be won. We weren’t in it for that, but rather to put Christ in Christ-mas – yet somehow we managed to get 2nd prize for the float which was such an encouragement to us all!
AN AMAZING OUTCOME – AGAIN: The next year we tried to do similar, with some additions – tinsel and streamers from LookSharp and a live pet lamb.
Again we received an award (3rd place) – not that we were aiming for that but it was a nice bonus.
TEAM: In the lead-up to the big day I found more and more of our regular team were caught up with various other parties and plans at the same time. It seemed a struggle to get a team together but on the day, God provided enough people to have a driver, 4 angels as the required marshals for H&S, “Mary”, shepherds with the lamb.
A WIDE CONNECTION – WITH SUBSTANCE: We still had half a dozen others to be more shepherds and walk alongside and hand out Gospel tracts with candy canes (God also provided willing helpers to tape all ~2300 of those candy canes to the tracts!).
A light rain couldn’t dampen our spirits on the day, and it was truly a privilege to use the nativity to make Christ the centrepiece of Christmas.
GROWING POSSIBILITIES: A few people have wanted to take photos with our Christmas Parade trailer, including local MPs/councillors, so we made it available for that and are thinking how we could do that more into the future – maybe people do want photos after all?
Thank you Maria for sharing this story of your journey, the successes, the setbacks and the learnings.
Hope Project Christmas aspires to make Christ the focal point at Christmas by encouraging individuals to display nativities wherever they can.
This simple idea will normalise nativities again in the public view, highlight Jesus’s significance at Christmas, influence negative perceptions, engage public curiosity, and inspire conversations.
Together, let’s use the simple NATIVITY imagery to bring Jesus back into view.