By Bill Hall
BATTLEFORD, Saskatchewan, Canada--This year in our small church in Battleford we had our first Christmas Eve service.
Since our church is rather small, with an average attendance of 30, I approached a Salvation Army couple in our area and asked if they would like to combine with us. They have a congregation of 10.
I announced that we were having the service, and that it was everyone's personal decision whether to come. For four weeks leading up to the service, I worked through the advent sermons from the common lectionary.
Previous to those sermons, we had discussions as to how to reach our community. I brought up the point that whether we like it or not, Christmas remains a marvelous time to reach the unchurched with the gospel as there is still a collective memory as to the reason for the celebration in our post-modern society.
On Christmas Eve, 57 people attended. I estimate that 25 (not including the Salvation Army couple and their daughter) of those were new people who don't usually fellowship with us. The message I presented was seeker-oriented, and I think was appropriate for the audience.
The service was a personal validation in two ways. First, it proved to me that what I had thought about Christmas was true. It can be a wonderful occasion to use as an outreach to the community.
Second, all visitors came because of a personal invitation from a member. No one came because of the ad we placed in the newspaper or from the almost 300 flyers we placed in the Christmas food hampers given out by the Salvation Army.
In this part of Saskatchewan it is relational evangelism that seems to work best.
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