Every church has their own unique culture, but this is as close to a universal as anything. You should have Christmas Eve or Christmas Eve Eve services! I know it means more for you, pastor. I know it means less time with family. But here's why it's important and a couple of practical thoughts and steps to make it count.
Here's a couple reasons why you should have services:
1. Families are together, including your congregations family members (that don't usually attend church). This gives your congregation an easy invite!
2. People tend to be more open to spiritual things at Christmas time, plus it often brings back pleasant or comfortable memories from childhood.
I know each context is different, but here's a couple things to help you make the most out of the Christmas services:
1. If you don't normally have a 10 piece band and laser light show, don't do it on Christmas Eve (or at least only do it for one segment). Churches often try to outdo themselves on Christmas Eve. The problem is that if that visitor comes back sometime in the next month, they'll wonder what happened to the church they went to on Christmas Eve! It's important to look like yourself on Christmas Eve. Do special things, but let people see who you are.
2. Do a video, or some kind of promo for your new series (which should start within the next week or two). Let them know they are welcome back and that they can jump in on the front end of something you're just starting.
3. Acknowledge and respect visitors. Let them know you expected them and help them "be in the loop" by not assuming any knowledge of your church or of the Bible. Explain things so they can follow along.
4. Invite them in. Geoff Surratt had an intersting post about this. We are inviting them in this year by having our Children's Ministry take photo booth kids and family pictures that we will then put on facebook and they can tag themselves. We're providing a fun service, and they will interact with us even after they leave the service.
5. Know when to have your services in your community. Our community is stable. It's not transient. Most people are from here, which means most have family gatherings in town or close by on Christmas Eve and Christmas. So two years ago we started doing Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve services. This year, our Christmas Eve Eve service was the first to "sell out" (we give away FREE tickets to know about how many people we have coming). We also realized in our community that Christmas Eve services didn't work past 5 pm (unless we held something at 11 pm for those who grew up with that tradition). 7 pm was family parties and dinners. If you're community is anything like ours, I'd strongly encourage you to do a Christmas Eve Eve service. Lots of people want to come to the service but just can't because they have prior commitments on Christmas Eve.
6. If you do candle lighting, think about doing glow sticks for the kids. One, they think it's cool! Two, you don't have to worry about them dripping wax on themselves or trying to burn a hole in the chairs or pews. Parents will love you for this!! How many parents aren't even really paying attention because all they are concerned about is how their child is doing with the candle and dripping wax. Glow sticks are cheap and effective.
7. Don't do a 40 minute message. Get creative. Do a 15 minute message and use other creative pieces. You probably have kids in the service. Kids who have sugar plums dancing in their heads. You will need to be disciplined and it will mean more work, but you can tell the story in a compelling way in 15 minutes.
8. Don't get too cute. The Christmas story is the Christmas story. Let it's power and beauty drive the service.