Promotional Calendar

Talk with your congregation about how your church shares the story of Christ through listening to the stories of Christ.  Place special emphasis on Christian Education and Spiritual Formation in your church.  You may want to focus on children learning about Christ's birth and life.

Planning Ahead

Each year, we all strive to avoid the frenzied rush that precedes the celebration of Christmas. Planning ahead helps to reduce stress and bring into focus the real reason for our celebration--the gift of Christ. Keep your plans on track by adding dates from this itemized list to your church's calendar or automated software, or your personal date book.

August--September

• Read over the materials. Familiarize yourself with the theme and available resources.
• Get ideas. Research the Christ's Birthday Observance promotional pages on this site for ideas.

October

• Form a planning committee. Early in October, call a meeting to discuss the Christ's Birthday Observance. In many churches the planning committee consists of the women's leader and the senior pastor. Consider involving your worship arts pastor or minister of music, other women from Christian Women Connection, or other representatives to incorporate all aspects of church life into the experience. In the planning meeting, you should discuss and review the orders of worship, Advent readings, the curriculum, and Project Prayer. At this meeting, review the materials your church will need to order to make this event successful. You will find the order form in the materials packet with the Resource Book. Many materials are also available in Spanish, offering an opportunity for inclusiveness within your church or for outreach.
• Order materials early! A key element to a fruitful experience is ordering your materials early. Seeing displays or receiving handouts of posters, bookmarks, meditation journals, offering envelopes, and letterhead helps your congregation become excited about the offering. Waiting too long can prevent the materials from arriving in time for Advent. So please place your orders early. 
• Celebrate last year's accomplishments! In October you will receive your appreciation certificate from the previous year's Christ's Birthday Observance. Please share our appreciation with your congregation.

November

• Prepare for Project Prayer. Early in November, begin promoting and preparing for Project Prayer. Project Prayer can be a wonderful experience for your congregation as you stand together to pray for the world. Refer to the "Project Prayer" section of the Resource Book to help you plan this event.
• Begin promoting the Observance. Start placing posters and displays around the church on the first weekend in November. The Resource Book includes a "Display, Promotional Ideas, and Lasting Impact" section with creative ways to share the theme with your church.
• Consider purchasing meditation journals and bookmarks for your entire congregation. Mail these resources to each family in your church and encourage them to use the devotional book throughout the advent season. Plan to mail the materials for arrival in the last week of November.

The Observance Begins

Whether you use slides, skits, bulletin information, verbal announcements, or all of the above, make certain that each Sunday the congregation is informed that the Christ's Birthday offering will be collected on the final Sunday of Advent.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Introduce the theme to your church.

• Use the wide range of resources (such as worship ideas, sermon thought starters, and readings) to make the Observance unified.
• Introduce the meditation journals. TIn these journals, you will find inspiring stories and meditations with questions for reflection after each day's reading. At the end of the journal are additional reflective questions. The journal also includes a brief biography of each author.
• Introduce the bookmarks and the concept of the individual goal for the Observance offering.

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

• Share with the congregation what it means to live out the story. Have a time in the service when people in your church tell stories about how they have observed others who have lived out the Christian life in meaningful ways.
• Ask the congregation to begin considering what they will give next week to help spread the story around the world.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

This is the week of Christmas and the final week of the Christ's Birthday Observance.

• This morning the offering will be taken using the adult and children's offering envelopes. Provide all attendees to the morning service with a bulletin insert flyer that shows how the offering is used to share God's love around the world. You may want to include this in your bulletin or have ushers hand out the flyers before the service so people can prepare for the offering.
• Before the offering is taken, remind the congregation of the meaning of the offering. Pass out the offering envelopes and allow time for people to make decisions and complete their offering envelopes. You may have a time of silence, or you may want music playing softly. (Refer to the "Litany to Receive the Offering" section.)
• Lead the "Litany to Receive the Offering" provided in the Resource Book, and collect the offering. Consider having people come forward to place their offering in a common basket or container. Encourage them to stop at the altars and pray for the ministry of the local church and the church around the world.

January

• Remit your congregation's offering to the state treasurer of Women of the Church of God. If you do not know where to send the offering, refer to the list in the materials packet. You may also contact the Women of the Church of God national offices toll free at (866) 778-0804.
• Thank your congregation for a job well done. Contact Christian Women Connection with any thoughts or ideas you have about the Christ's Birthday Observance. If you would like to send us a story about your church, e-mail us at frontdesk@wchog.org, or call us toll free at (866) 778-0804.
• During the year, continue to offer opportunities for your congregation to share the story through evangelism, testimony, and prayer for one another.