Churches Making Community Presence at Christmas

From hosting Christmas parade viewing on the church building steps to hosting a parking lot Neighborhood Christmas event, Christian Reformed congregations are embracing their communities this season.

First Christian Reformed Church in Lynden, Wash. handed out hot chocolate and baked goods to over 100 people on its front steps as the town of Lynden hosted its annual lighted Christmas parade Dec. 7. The church is located along the parade route. Galen Laird, president of the elder board and chair of council at First CRC in Lynden, said less than a week before the parade two members of the fellowship ministry team, Dennis and Jeanne Janzen, asked if they could hand out hot drinks on the front steps of the church. A similar event had taken place in the past but was paused in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Laird said they set up the front foyer to use as a warming station. They expected to receive about 20 people and were excited that over 100 guests stopped by. “Dennis and Jeanne are so excited on how the turnout was—especially being a last-minute project. They look forward to next Christmas season and growing the project and increasing the numbers by hundreds,” he said.

Just 30 minutes north and across the border in Canada, Living Hope CRC in Abbotsford, B.C., hosted their annual Neighborhood Christmas event. They have hosted the Neighborhood Christmas every year since 2017, and this year had close to 400 people attend. Living Hope invited their community for “a time of live music, warm drinks and cookies, kids’ crafts, and free pony rides.”

Sandra Ferguson is the lead of the welcome team at Living Hope. She said, “We wanted to find a way to connect and celebrate the joy of Christmas with people living in the neighborhood around our church, without inviting them to a formal Christmas service.” Their goal was to create a festive environment where people could spend time together. “We see the event as our gift to our neighbors every Christmas.”

During the Neighborhood Christmas, people were encouraged to go into the church building where Clayburn Collective was hosting a Christmas market. The collective is made up of a group of women who are members at Living Hope. They organized an artisan Christmas market with 24 vendors in the church Dec. 6 and 7. The vendors included makers from their congregation and community. Ferguson said, “This was the first time the Neighborhood Christmas was combined with a Christmas market. We did this with the hopes of bringing new faces into our Christmas Event.” Clayburn Collective also hosted a spring market at the church.

During the Neighborhood Christmas, the cookie and drink tent has brochures that list the church’s Christmas services and activities, as well as some of the other ministries and programs they offer.